Antony is the £85m dud that will define Ten Hag’s tenure

Manchester United winger was hauled off after 54 minutes and continues to be a millstone around his manager’s neck

When the time comes to write the analysis of Erik ten Hag’s time as Manchester United manager – and that may be coming in the not-too-distant future – the Dutchman’s fate will be inexorably linked with that of Antony.
Unfortunately, as Anthony Elanga enjoyed a sterling evening in Nottingham Forest’s win against Ten Hag’s team, there was yet more evidence the United manager let the wrong Antony leave Old Trafford this summer.
The Brazilian winger who stayed was signed for £85 million from Ten Hag’s former club Ajax in the summer of 2022 and is becoming, with each passing week, the symbol, or at least one of the symbols, of United’s malaise.
The glimpses of promise he showed early last season have long become a distant memory and his last goal, at this very ground, is now 30 games ago. In the instant-gratification world of modern football, it might as well be 300.
If, and when, Ten Hag becomes the fifth permanent manager to depart the hot seat in the decade-plus since Sir Alex Ferguson retired, he will forever be associated with one failing player – a phenomenon familiar to those who came before him.
Ten Hag’s record as United manager after 20 games this season – 31 points with a 22-27 goal difference – is worse than Moyes’ at a comparative stage: 34 points and 33-24 in goals.
Moyes was sacked before he even reached the end of his first season and, to many United supporters, his reign will forever be linked with Marouane Fellaini, the Belgian midfielder he was forced to sign late in the day from his old club Everton after his new employers failed to deliver any significant signings in the summer after Ferguson’s retirement.
The pattern continues. Take your pick from Louis van Gaal’s shopping basket, but Angel Di Maria, or Memphis Depay, are on the shortlist. Jose Mourinho almost broke United’s bank – which takes some doing – to sign free agent Alexis Sanchez.
For Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s reign, Jadon Sancho, still in limbo after his public falling out with Ten Hag, is arguably among the worst pound-for-pound signings in the club’s history.
Among them, but nowhere near the worst. 
Antony surely holds that dubious distinction by quite some margin, based on current form. His 21 appearances this season in all competitions have failed to produce a single goal or assist, while last season’s Premier League campaign saw the 23-year-old contribute four goals and two assists in 25 appearances.
Acceptable numbers, perhaps, for a debut season from a young overseas winger in the Premier League but not at a club like United. And not for somebody signed for a deal that cost that much.
The latest disaster saw Antony replaced after 54 minutes against Forest. Ten Hag was giving him the benefit of the doubt in leaving him on that long.
The Brazilian had much-publicised off-field issues that took him out of the team in the autumn but the 2-1 win over Chelsea at the start of the month was his only complete 90 minutes this season, despite United’s lengthy injury problems.
With Sir Dave Brailsford, of marginal gains fame and a key user of data-driven analytics, overseeing football matters in the new year, the form of Elanga will surely not have gone unnoticed as he watched from the City Ground directors’ box.
The winger, two years Antony’s junior, was sold for £15 million last summer and now has 10 goals and assists in the Premier League, the first time he has hit that mark for a season … and 10 more than his namesake.
Antony, of course, cannot be blamed for United’s catastrophically bad recruitment team having paid the fee they did for his services. His attitude and work ethic are a different matter.
“There’s a lot of deals you can look at with a glass half empty,” said Gary Neville on Sky.
“It’s worrying. He has two things: he can cut inside and whip it in as a cross, or put a shot away. He is no where near [former Manchester City star] Riyad Mahrez. He doesn’t look like he’s had any work with him – I can’t believe the coaches aren’t saying simplify the game a bit.
“He needs consistency. I have my fears the temperament is not there. He is so frustrating. I blame the football club. It’s not the boy’s fault he was bought for that money. The money was too much. There has to be a ‘no’ when it gets to that level. If I was looking at him at £25m, we would be looking differently.”