Ajax chief says club have signed 'successor' for Manchester United target Antony

Ajax technical manager Gerry Hamstra has said the club are signing a ‘successor’ for Manchester United target Antony in Portuguese starlet Francisco Conceicao.

Erik ten Hag has already raided his former side for Lisandro Martinez this summer with Brazil international Antony also on his list of targets.

Reports have claimed the 21-year-old is eager to reunite with his former manager at Old Trafford. However, Ajax have placed a huge valuation on one of their star players, demanding United pay £67million.

United have seen an opening offer of £51m rejected with recent reports claiming they remain interested in doing a deal this summer.

Ajax meanwhile have already found a replacement for Martinez, signing Calvin Bassey from Rangers.

Hamsta has now suggested the club have identified 19-year-old Porto starlet Conceicao as a long-term replacement for Antony when he leaves the Dutch giants.

‘We are also in Spain and Portugal with our scouting,’ Hamsta explained in an interview with Het Parool.

‘It says something that players from Glasgow Rangers, where they may be in a slightly less appealing competition, and a talented boy who is doing well at Porto, want to choose us.’

‘On the one hand you want to have immediately deployable players if you lose CL-worthy players. But at Ajax we also continue to think about the long-term. How fast that happens depends on several factors.

‘I can imagine that that goes a little faster with a Portuguese or European than with a boy from South America. So Conceição is another example of bringing the successor, in this case Antony, into your selection.’

Antony, who scored 12 goals and provided 10 assists for Ajax last season, is back in training after recovering from an ankle injury suffered in March.