Former Chelsea star Joe Cole believes Manchester United are trying to sell Antony and that the Brazilian cost his team in the defeat to Brighton.
United suffered their first defeat of the season as they lost 2-1 to the Seagulls thanks to Joao Pedro’s 95th minute winner.
There’s been a lot of change at United over the summer and despite a number of new signings there appeared to be some familiar frailties on show, particularly defensively with Pedro totally unmarked in the box for his goal.
Antony came on as injury time substitute for the Red Devils and Cole wasn’t impressed with what he saw from the former Ajax man, and even claimed United are trying to sell him before the deadline next week.
“Manchester United brought on Antony who in all due respect, probably isn’t happy to just play 10 or 15 minutes,” he told TNT Sports.
“He’s an £80m player, he probably wants out the door at United and they probably want him out as well.
“You’re bringing him on and in that crucial moment when there’s a ball to be won, a body needs to be put on the line for your team and for your club, he didn’t do it and it cost his team.
“That’s the difference. If you look at the running the Brighton subs went through, it was fantastic.”
Antony’s endured a difficult time at Old Trafford and certainly hasn’t lived up to expectations or his price tag after joining from Ajax in 2022 for a fee in excess of £80m.
The 24-year-old, who has made 83 appearances for the club, scoring 11 goals was linked with a move away from Old Trafford earlier this summer but his agent came out and shut those rumours down.
It would seem unlikely that Antony will leave in the last few days of the window and United at this current stage would be taking a huge financial hit on the winger.
This campaign is certainly make or break for Antony and if he endures another underwhelming season then his time in Manchester could be up.
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