Manchester United keen to offload Antony in January, swap deal with 27-year-old Brazil international mooted – Reports
Manchester United are reportedly keen to sell Antony in the winter transfer window with speculations also arising about a potential swap deal with Flamengo attacker Gabriel Barbosa.
Antony, 23, has struggled to live up to expectations since departing Ajax to join the Red Devils for around £86 million last summer. He has scored just eight goals and laid out three assists in 3744 minutes of action, spread across 55 games across all competitions for his club.
As a result, according to the Daily Mirror, Manchester United have decided to cash in on the Brazilian star next January. They have also been linked with an exchange deal with Brasileiro Serie A outfit Flamengo for Barbosa, who is also widely known as Gabigol in his country.
Gabigol, 27, has established himself as one of Flamengo's top performers over the last four or five years. He has guided them to eight trophies since initially joining on a temporary deal from Inter Milan in 2019.
A left-footed versatile forward blessed with flair, dribbling and shooting, the Santos academy product has netted 139 goals in 246 matches for Flamengo. He has also provided 38 assists so far, operating mainly as a striker or as a right-sided inverted winger for his current club.
However, Manchester United are reportedly willing to offer Antony more chances to prove his mettle. They could decide not to offload the winger should he improve his performances before the start of 2024.
Rio Ferdinand urges Antony to improve this season to keep his Manchester United spot
Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand has hit out at Antony for his sub-par form this season. Sharing his thoughts on the Brazilian after the Red Devils' 1-0 triumph at Fulham, he said (h/t Daily Express):
"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."
Stating that Antony should improve to retain his place, 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?'."
Antony, who has a deal until June 2027 at Old Trafford, could lose his starting spot to Alejandro Garnacho soon. While he is without a goal involvement this term, the 19-year-old has netted once in 14 matches.
Manchester United, on the other hand, will next take on Copenhagen in their UEFA Champions League contest on Wednesday (November 8).