Antony to Man Utd: 11 'overpriced' players who completely justified huge fees

One of this summer’s longest-running transfer sagas finally looks to be over as Manchester United are set to complete the signing of Brazilian winger Antony from Ajax.

Sky Sports report that the Red Devils will splash out £84 million on the player, making him the second most expensive signing in the club’s history behind the £89m spent on Paul Pogba in 2016.

The considerable fee will also be the biggest ever paid for an Eredivisie player, beating the £77.4m Barcelona forked over to Ajax in July 2019 for Frenkie de Jong.

Antony is not a prolific goalscorer, having only scored 21 goals in 74 outings for the Dutch champions.

On raw numbers alone, United are taking a big gamble on the player, particularly as his market value currently stands at £31.5m.

However, having worked with him at Ajax, United boss Erik ten Hag certainly believes Antony is worth the investment.

Able to unlock defences with his dazzling footwork and direct style of play, Ten Hag feels his new man can be a game changer at Old Trafford and make light of his admittedly steep fee.

Critics of the deal have outright claimed that Antony is overpriced, labelling the fee as ‘ridiculous’.

In fairness, United’s track recent record with big money signings isn’t great. Pogba couldn’t have flopped any harder at the ‘Theatre of Dreams’ and Harry Maguire is currently a £78.3m benchwarmer.

Plenty of players down the years that have been slapped with the ‘overpriced’ tag have gone on to make their naysayers look foolish, though.

Antony to Man Utd done! | Reaction via The Football Terrace

Below we’ve taken a look at 11 such players who went out to completely justify their massive transfer fees. Time will tell if Antony joins them.

This was one Red Devils’ gamble that