According to reports, Manchester United is eager to let go of Antony during the winter transfer window. There have also been rumors of a possible trade involving Gabriel Barbosa, an attacker for Flamengo.
Since leaving Ajax to join the Red Devils for almost £86 million last summer, Antony, 23, has found it difficult to live up to expectations. Throughout the course of 55 games in all competitions for his club, he has only managed to score eight goals and provide three assists in 3744 minutes of activity.
The Daily Mirror claims that Manchester United has chosen to take advantage of the Brazilian sensation in January of next year. Additionally, they have been connected to an exchange agreement for Barbosa, who is also well-known as Gabigol in his own country, with Flamengo of the Brasileiro Serie A.
Over the past four or five years, Gabigol, 27, has made a name for himself as one of Flamengo’s top performers. Since initially signing on a temporary contract from Inter Milan in 2019, he has led them to eight championships.
With skill in dribbling, shooting, and left foot, this versatile attacker from Santos academy has scored 139 goals for Flamengo in 246 games. In addition, he has so far contributed 38 assists while playing primarily as a striker or right-sided inverted winger for his present team.
But according to reports, Manchester United is prepared to give Antony additional opportunities to establish his worth. In the event that the winger’s performances improve before 2024 officially begins, they may choose not to let him go.
Rio Ferdinand, a stalwart of Manchester United, has taken aim at Antony for his lackluster play this season. He expressed his opinions about the Brazilian following the Red Devils’ 1-0 victory at Fulham.
“I don’t know [how long Antony has] because you could smell the frustration from the fans, let alone hear it. He’s played 11 games this season and managed zero goals and zero assists – from an attacking player, that’s not good enough, that’s the hard fact.”
Declaring that Antony needed to do better to keep his position, Ferdinand said:
“He has to improve dramatically because when [Marcus] Rashford comes back, if [Alejandro] Garnacho gets benched and Antony is starting ahead of him, he has to be scratching his head thinking, ‘How is this guy ahead of me?’.”
With a contract that expires in June 2027 at Old Trafford, Antony may soon lose his starting position to Alejandro Garnacho. The 19-year-old has scored one goal in 14 games this season, despite not having played in any goals.