"He was £85 million" - Dwight Yorke tells Manchester United star to 'man up' and perform better after UCL exit
Former Manchester United striker Dwight Yorke has launched a scathing attack on Antony and has insisted that the Brazilian must step up. Antony failed to impress yet again as he started for the Red Devils in their 1-0 loss to Bayern Munich in the Champions League on Tuesday, December 12.
Manchester United crashed out of the Champions League by finishing at the rock bottom of group A behind Bayern Munich, FC Copenhagen, and Galatasaray. Following the game, Yorke hit out at Antony for his failure to make an impact on the pitch.
Yorke insisted that Antony has not been good enough for the Red Devils, especially considering his £85 million fee. The former Trinidad and Tobago international has claimed that a player costing as much as the former Ajax star should be delivering regularly. He told InstantCasino, as quoted by Goal:
"People must be having a laugh if they're praising Antony for putting in some decent performances - he was £85 million. Everybody is entitled to their opinion, but we need to be frank - Antony just hasn't been good enough. It's all well and good producing the occasional decent performance, but that shouldn't be an acceptable benchmark at Man United."
Yorke added:
"I appreciate that every player needs time to settle in, but Antony is another player who needs to man up. He needs to blitz down that right-hand side, cut in, assist, and score goals - that's what they paid £85 million for. The discussion around Antony becoming an OK footballer is nonsense. He cost £85 million. He has to be better than that."
Antony has struggled to live up to his massive transfer fee of a reported £85 million following his switch from Ajax. The 23-year-old is yet to either score or assist this season having already made 17 appearances across competitions.
Pundit says England international will be relieved he didn't join Manchester United
Former footballer-turned-pundit Craig Burley has claimed Harry Kane would be relieved he chose to join Bayern Munich instead of Manchester United in the summer. The England skipper was strongly linked with a move to Old Trafford last summer but opted to join Bayern Munich.
Speaking on ESPN FC's podcast (via The Boot Room), Craig Burley has claimed that Kane dodged a bullet by not joining the Red Devils:
"If Harry Kane has gone to speak to the English media, and I presume he has, the only words he needs to say is ‘thank God this lot didn’t bid for me properly in the summer. I was a big advocate [for United bidding for Kane] and I think rightly so, United had to go for big, top-quality players. I was a big advocate of going for these big players, which they didn’t do and they went and spent their money in all these different areas."
Manchester United have already crashed out of the Champions League as well as from the EFL Cup. They find themselves sixth in the Premier League table with just nine wins in 16 games.