While Edwin van der Sar was giving Erik ten Hag advice about Manchester United, ten Hag chose to ignore it.

Eric ten Hag has spent a lot of money since becoming manager of Manchester United in 2022. He has spent £600 million on 15 permanent deals.

Warrior Antony, on the other hand, was the most expensive player the club has ever bought. Manchester United paid about £85 million to get the Brazilian from Ajax, where Ten Hag used to play, but he hasn’t made much of an effect.

In 56 Premier League games, Antony has only scored five goals and set up three others. Three of those goals came in his first three league games. On the day that Ajax signed Antony, the club’s CEO, the legendary Edwin van der Sar, told them they had paid way too much for the winger.

Van der Sar thought Antony had “potential world star” ability, but he thought Ajax should have kept him for another year to help him grow. Despite this, they couldn’t say no to United’s huge deal.

Van der Sar told the Athletic after the deal was done, “We would have liked to keep him here one year longer—we didn’t have to sell him right away! We had money in the bank—but the fee got so high.” United was told to “go as far as they can.”

Antony hasn’t lived up to his full promise at Old Trafford yet, though. He’s only started one game this season, a 7-0 win in the Carabao Cup over League One team Barnsley. He has to wait for Marcus Rashford, Alejandro Garnacho, and Amad Diallo to get a chance.

When asked about Antony’s lack of playing time last month, Ten Hag said, “He is fighting, fighting for his position.” “That’s what every Manchester United player is expected to do and what they should do.”

“He’s in a hurry, of course.” There’s a fight between him and the other player to play. That’s top-level football, professional football. Those are the rules. You pick the team that you think has the best chance to win.

“The players need to fight to keep their spots. You choose the XI that seems to work best together. He needs to earn the right to train, but the others are doing great. He needs to move on.

“He needs to get back on track now, and he has the skills to do so.” As long as he does the right thing, he can compete with them.