Antony has proven Manchester United right over £7m decision made last summer - opinion

Antony was on fire against Chelsea and in that excellent display, he’s proven Manchester United correct over a decision last summer.

Manchester United have been waiting 18 months for Antony to start to look like a Premier League player.

We aren’t saying he’s done so, but in the last three weeks, he’s shown more than he did in the previous however many.

With a goal against Liverpool and an assist against Chelsea, he’s finally contributing and looking like a useable player for Erik ten Hag.

Against Chelsea, he was so good and direct, and in doing so has proven a transfer decision United took last summer to be correct.

READ MORE: Manchester United transfer history 2013 to present day

Antony proves Manchester United right over 2023 decision

In August 2023, Manchester United were searching for a left-back solution as both Luke Shaw and Tyrell Malacia were injured.

This search ended in Sergio Reguilon arriving on loan, but before that, it seemed like a move for Chelsea’s Marc Cucurella was on the cards for what would’ve been an absolute rip-off.

Chelsea are reported to have asked for a loan fee of £7m from United in order to take Cucurella off their hands.

This fee would’ve been ludicrous and at the time we all knew it.

Luckily, in a rare stroke of competency, the correct decision was made and Cucurella wasn’t signed.

Now this decision has just been made to look even better after what Antony did to him on Thursday.

Antony would love to play against Marc Cucurella every week

Antony isn’t a player who gets the best of a full-back too often, with his performance against Newport the only time this season that he has.

But against Chelsea that changed as he toyed with Cucurella and looked like the £86m winger he is, for the first time, as his stats from the game show, as per FotMob.

As seen, he was so impressive in this game and beat Cucurella multiple times on the dribble both inside and out, thick we don’t usually see from Antony.

If he continues to perform like this, Antony could soon look a bargain.