Mirror
Ajax forward Antony has been left out of his side’s Eredivisie clash against Sparta Rotterdam as he seeks to reunite with his former boss Erik ten Hag at Manchester United.
Antony – the Dutch side’s star player last season – is hopeful of rekindling his strong relationship with Ten Hag amid reports that the player’s representatives recently travelled to Europe in order to help negotiate a deal earlier this window.
United, who will take their summer spending through the £121million barrier with the £60million capture of Real Madrid midfielder Casemiro, are willing to continue their spending spree with the acquisition of Antony being their next major transfer objective this summer.
The Premier League club lodged an €80million (£68million) bid for the forward last week, which was rejected by the Dutch giants – despite this being the figure they had quoted for United earlier in the transfer window.
Ajax’s stance had appeared to be a signal to ward off interest from United but their interest has been rekindled – prompted by their disastrous start to the Premier League campaign, in which they lost against Brighton and Brentford with meek performances.
Antony was frustrated by his club’s refusal to come to the negotiating table with United and subsequently sat out two days of training with the club. A report in De Telegraaf underlines how he is now trying to take matters into his own hands by forcing through a move to Old Trafford…
