What a difference one night makes in the world of football! On Sunday, it seemed like everything was crumbling at Manchester United with the club rooted to the bottom of the Premier League table.
Monday witnessed a Manchester United performance reminiscent of the ones put in during the Sir Alex Ferguson regime. Forget the tactics and the style of play, for the first time this season the team did the basics better than the opposition.
And that was reflected in the statistics as it emerged that Manchester United had covered more distance (114km) than their opponents and made 51 more sprints than Liverpool. A stark contrast to the performance they put in against Brentford last week.
And Erik ten Hag praised the fighting spirit displayed by the team and this is only going to get better once new signing Casemiro settles into the rhythm of regular Premier League football.
And Ten Hag has no plans to stop there as he still wants more incomings before the transfer window closes. One of the biggest deals the club is currently working on is bringing Ajax winger Antony to Old Trafford.
The Eredivisie champions had turned down a bid of €80million but the Red Devils are expected to raise their offer as they seek to reunite Ten Hag with his Brazilian protege.
Antony to United highly likely
According to Sky Sports, United are not necessarily going to increase the offer to as high as €100 million as reported in many outlets but might change the structure of the deal.
The new deal is likely to include a higher initial payment and will be submitted sometime this week. United are confident that Ajax will finally relent and sell the Brazil international.
The English giants’ position has been strengthened due to Antony’s stance. The 22-year-old is desperate to join the Red Devils and has asked the Amsterdam club to negotiate with United.
His entourage have flown from Brazil to Amsterdam and they have been sending cryptic clues regarding Antony’s preference to join up with Ten Hag as soon as possible.
Antony did not train with the rest of his teammates after he complained that he was not ‘mentally ready‘ while the club decided to drop him from the squad for their clash against Sparta Rotterdam on Sunday.
United still have PSV Eindhoven winger Cody Gakpo as an alternative and he is seen as a much cheaper option. Personal terms have already been agreed and talks will resume in case a deal with Ajax falls through. It remains to be seen if both wingers join or whether United go all out for Antony in the dying stages of the transfer window.
