Newcastle United are reportedly weighing up a swoop for Manchester United flop Antony in the January transfer window.
The Magpies are in need of a new right-winger, though we are not sure this is the answer…
Man Utd signed Antony from Ajax for £80million in August 2022 and the Brazilian actually had a positive start, scoring against Arsenal on his debut.
That was as good as it got for the ex-Ajax favourite, who is now warming the bench and reportedly available for as little as £25m, which is probably an ambitious asking price.
What makes the signing of Antony even worse is that Man Utd could have got him for half the price earlier in the 2022 summer transfer window.
So, yeah, all in all, not great, which means Newcastle’s reported interest comes as a surprise.
They had reportedly targeted Michael Olise in June but the Frenchman opted to join Bayern Munich from Crystal Palace, while West Ham’s Jarrod Bowen was also looked at.
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After failing to sign Bowen or Olise, Newcastle seemed to forget that they needed a right-sided attacker and instead spent the last month of the window trying to sign centre-back Marc Guehi from Palace.
They failed catastrophically in doing so and were left without a new centre-back after landing Lloyd Kelly from Bournemouth on a free transfer months ago.
Newcastle’s transfer business has left fans incredibly frustrated, and while they do need a right-winger, signing Antony will not win fans over.
If this transfer does come to fruition, many supporters will give Antony the benefit of the doubt and all should support him regardless of how he is rated.
Newcastle eye shock swoop for £80m winger
Newcastle’s interest is reported by CaughtOffside, where it is claimed that ‘it’s obvious they will want to try and strengthen in January’ after a pretty quiet summer window.
That is where Antony comes in. The report states that the Geordies are ‘considering a move’ for the Brazilian international if they fail to sign Nottingham Forest winger Anthony Elanga.
Eddie Howe’s priority is to sign ‘an exciting winger’ and he ‘wants’ Antony to be that signing.
This report claims that Man Utd owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe now wants closer to £40m for the 24-year-old, which is still a colossal loss on their £80m investment.
What does Howe like about Antony? Well, he ‘highly appreciates his skills and believes he would be a valuable addition to the squad’.
Having tried to lowball Palace for Guehi, Newcastle are not looking to make that mistake again as they ‘are happy to pay the new asking price’.
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