Erik ten Hag's Manchester United are interested in bringing in 22-year-old winger Antony this transfer window, according to reports.
The young talent was a star in Ten Hag's title-winning Ajax side last season, and his impressive performances in the Eredivisie and Champions League have caught eyes around the continent.
Charlotte Duncker of Times Sport has reported that United are interested in signing the winger this summer, and that he is one among several transfer targets for the club and features on their list of attacking targets.
Advert
She goes on to mention that adding an attacker is a second priority for the club, and that they have not limited their search to only centre forwards in that context.
Although, it has been said that no deal for Antony is advanced as of now, and the focus is on signing a midfielder firstly.
Given that Antony is now emerging as a serious target to a degree, we will take a look at all the major news surrounding him and United over the past few months to gather a better understanding of the situation.
All about Antony: The major news on the Brazilian
Towards the end of March, James Ducker of Telegraph Sport had reported that if Erik ten Hag was to move clubs in the summer, he would be interested in signing Antony for his next club.
Advert
This was further reiterated a few days later by Simon Mullock of Mirror Sport, who has been among the more reliable journalists on everything Erik ten Hag related over the past few months.
He mentioned that the manager had earmarked Antony and Jurriën Timber as the two Ajax players he would like to take to United - a piece of information which has aged well.
Paul Hirst of Times Sport then mentioned that Antony was among several United targets and that he could be available for around £55 million.
Advert
Antony was again name-dropped by James Ducker a few days later, where he stated that the winger is expected to leave Ajax this summer - with Manchester United and Liverpool being among clubs monitoring his situation.
With Liverpool having committed a total outlay of around £85m in transfer fees on Darwin Núñez since, along with the fact that Mohamed Salah is poised to stay at Anfield for another year, it would be unlikely that they move for another attacker in that price range - clearing up the path a little for United to have a run at the player.
More recently though, Thiago Fernandes and Raul Moura, while writing for Goal Brazil, mentioned that Antony's entourage were in Europe to accelerate and potentially close a possible deal between United and the player.
They also went on to mention that a fee could ultimately be up to £52m, which would be in line with Paul Hirst's report, as mentioned earlier.
Advert
This was followed up by talkSPORT and Alex Crook's take on the matter, with a report stating that United sources hadn't distanced themselves from rumours around Antony.
It was also mentioned that another source said that they'd be surprised if Antony wasn't a United player this summer - and how he looked like one of the definite arrivals at the club.
All said and done, there's plenty of evidence to believe that Antony is one among United's more serious attacking targets for the summer from the information we've got so far on the matter.
Advert
The potential fees being mooted seem to fall in the £50-55m range, and how comfortably a deal for the player could be potentially sealed would depend on the order in which the club decide to pursue their positions of need in the transfer market.
Topics: Antony, Ajax, Manchester United, Manchester United Transfer News & Rumours, Transfers, Football, Erik Ten Hag