Manchester United have agreed an £85m deal with Ajax for winger Antony.
United will pay £80.75m guaranteed and an additional £4.25m in add-ons for the 22-year-old, who is expected to undergo a medical in Manchester in the next 48 hours.
Antony was again left out of Ajax’s squad for Sunday’s game in Utrecht as talks between the clubs continued.
Personal terms are not believed to be an issue in this deal.
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United have been chasing Anthony for several weeks and also saw a bid of £67.9m (€80m) rejected by the club earlier this week.
United have also looked at other options. They have an interest in Barcelona striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and continue to monitor his situation. Chelsea have been in talks over the signing of Aubameyang.
United’s interest in PSV Eindhoven’s Cody Gakpo remains. Signing both Antony and Gakpo has been described as “unlikely but not impossible”.
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Former footballer Clinton Morrison pays tribute to Allan Saint-Maximin after his outstanding performance against Manchester City. Paul Merson was also full of praise and asked why Manchester United are not interested in the winger
In an interview with Italian journalist Fabrizio Romano on YouTube on Friday, Antony said: “Since February this year, my agents came to Amsterdam to inform Ajax of my desire to leave the club to face a new challenge and that some interested clubs would arrive and with them undoubtedly a great offer.
“During the window months, the meetings concluded with a proposal from Ajax to renew the contract. I made it clear once again that I want to leave the club.
“Today in a meeting with the board I expressed my interest in leaving the club, this time with a considerable offer on the table. Others have already arrived. [but] Ajax always refuse with the argument that they only have five days to replace me.
“I’m not asking [for Ajax] To release myself, I am asking Ajax to sell me as the highest offer received for a player playing in the Eredivisie.”
A move to United would see Antony reunited with ex-Ajax manager Erik ten Hag, who has already signed defender Lisandro Martinez from his former club.
“I was very happy in Amsterdam, won titles at Ajax, made friends and built part of my career, but now I reinforce that I am ready and full of motivation to follow my story and my dreams,” he Antony added.
“People need to listen to me and understand that my motivation drives me towards happiness. I need that to continue to perform at a high level. Ajax will always be in my heart.”
The transfer window closes at 11pm on Thursday, meaning United have four days after Sunday to complete any further bids.
Why Antony is Ten Hag’s man
“For sure, we hope he will be the next star for Ajax.” It was July 2020 and Erik ten Hag, Ajax’s manager at the time, was introducing Antony, the club’s new £20m signing from Sao Paulo.
“We at Ajax are always trying to fight to get to the top,” Ten Hag added. “So I hope he will do his best to meet that level of expectation. The rest, we’ll see in the future.”
Ten Hag was right to expect big things from Antony – the Brazilian, just 19 when he agreed to his move to Amsterdam, quickly established himself as one of Ajax’s key players, but even he couldn’t have predicted that he would one day take him to Manchester United. too.
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