Manchester United legend Edwin van der Sar has wished Antony well at Old Trafford after sanctioning his departure.
Van der Sar is the CEO at Ajax and was on the opposite side of negotiations to his former club.
Having already lost manager Erik ten Hag to United, and centre-back Lisandro Martinez, he then had to deal with Antony’s desire to join them.
After a long summer of negotiations, Antony eventually got his move, for a costly fee of £81 million.
READ MORE: Confirmed Manchester United transfers, ins, outs, loans, releases for 2022/23
Van der Sar sends message to Antony
With the drama of transfer deadline day now passing, much to Ajax’s relief, Van der Sar has reached out to Antony to wish him the best at Old Trafford.
Antony is hoping to make his Manchester United debut on Sunday against Arsenal after sealing his transfer.
Antony trained with the United first team on Friday, and has already been seen behind the scenes at Carrington doing his trademark 360 spin skill.
Van der Sar also spoke to Voetbal International about the move, commenting: “We received an offer from Manchester United, via e-mail. We responded to that. The first time it was ‘no’. It was not in our plan to sell Antony.
“In the end, the amounts reach a point where it causes a turnaround. Football should be number one, but Ajax is also a company. We would have preferred to keep Antony, but we don’t live in that perfect world.’
- ANTONY: Factfile
- Antony was signed by Erik ten Hag for Ajax from Sao Paulo in 2020.
- He starred in Brazil’s Olympic gold medal winning team in Tokyo.
- The winger is senior international for Brazil and has been dubbed the ‘new Neymar’.
- Antony has won consecutive league titles for Ajax, scoring 24 goals for the club.
- He wears Ajax’s number 11 shirt, a number he also wore for Sao Paulo and Brazil.
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