Manchester United in talks over potential move for Ajax's Antony

Manchester United have held talks over a potential move for the Ajax forward Antony but are waiting for a breakthrough in negotiations with Barcelona for Frenkie de Jong before advancing other deals.

Telegraph Sport reported in early April how Erik Ten Hag was interested in bringing Antony to Old Trafford after a successful spell together at Ajax and United have been busy gauging the 22-year-old Brazil winger’s interest and the cost of any prospective deal.

Ryan Gravenberch and Noussair Mazraoui have already left Ajax for Bayern Munich this summer and there is a growing expectation that Antony - who has attracted interest from across Europe - will be among other anticipated departures at the Dutch club over the next couple of months.

United hope to help fund attacking reinforcements by offloading Anthony Martial but the France forward’s £200,000 a week wages are an obstacle and his poor form on loan at Sevilla during the second half of last season has not helped matters.

New United manager Ten Hag wants quality competition for Cristiano Ronaldo, Jadon Sancho, Marcus Rashford and Anthony Elanga in attack and Antony, who offers pace, creativity and a goalscoring threat, is most at home on the right flank, what for years has been a problem area for United. The ongoing situation with Mason Greenwood has been another complicating factor in United’s plans.

United’s absolute priority this summer is to bolster the midfield and they remain hopeful of getting a deal over the line for De Jong, despite protracted discussions with Barcelona for the Netherlands international.

With Paul Pogba, Nemanja Matic, Jesse Lingard and Juan Mata having all been released, United are also keen to sign the Denmark midfielder Christian Eriksen on a