Manchester United have landed Antony in a megabucks deal after months of speculation - but the Premier League giants could have bagged the Brazilian winger back in 2020 for a bargain fee.
The Old Trafford hierarchy have pushed heavily to sign Antony this summer at Erik ten Hag's behest. Once it became clear that United were in need of attacking reinforcements, the Dutchman identified the versatile forward as one of his primary transfer targets and was determined to make a deal happen.
Antony registered 22 goal contributions to help Ajax to the Eredivisie title last year and, unsurprisingly, the Dutch champions were reluctant to part ways with their prized attacking asset.
But with Antony sold on reuniting with Ten Hag, Ajax finally relented after weeks of talks and accepted a package worth an initial £81.3million for the 22-year-old, with various contract add-ons meaning the total cost of the deal could end up amounting to a staggering £85.5m.
Antony becomes the second biggest arrival in Manchester United history with only Paul Pogba, who cost a record £89m, ahead of him.
But United were 'offered' Antony's services before he joined Ajax back in 2020 for a fraction of the price they are now set to shell out. During Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's tenure, the winger would have been available for just £15m according to Sky Sports - but the Norwegian passed on the opportunity to strike a deal with the likes of Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial in form.
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Chelsea are another side who reportedly snubbed making a move for Antony at the time, with the Blues instead opting to press ahead with their attempts to prise Hakim Ziyech away from Ajax - paving the way for the Dutch giants to snap up Antony from his previous club, Sao Paulo.
After a two-year wait, Antony has now finally got his Premier League move - and Ten Hag is not fussed that United have had to pay a premium price to land him, as he believes the winger is a quality addition.
"First, we have to sign him," Ten Hag warned on Wednesday when discussing the deal. "So there's an agreement between the clubs but the paperwork is not done so I can't go too deep. Offensive department, we still need to strengthen our squad because we have many games to cover, from now we go three games a week, every third or fourth day.
"As you know, especially from offensive players, they fatigue quicker, they have to run more, higher intensity, we expect that from them. We don't only need quantity, we need quality."
