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Newcastle United ‘wouldn’t touch’ Manchester United flop Antony despite being linked with a surprise move for the Brazilian.
That is the opinion of former England goalkeeper Paul Robinson, who has described Antony as ‘lightweight’ and questioned whether he will ever come good in the Premier League.
Manchester United spent more than £80m to sign Antony from Ajax in 2022 but the 24-year-old has endured a dismal spell at Old Trafford, scoring just five league goals across his first two seasons.
Antony is yet to start a Premier League game this term and his reduced role in the team led to speculation he could leave United during the summer transfer window.
While that failed to materalise – with Erik ten Hag reportedly blocking him from leaving on loan on deadline day – Antony will likely continue to be linked with a move away from United ahead of the January transfer window.
One outlet even suggested Newcastle would consider a surprise move for Antony during the winter window, though ex-Premier League star Robinson has rubbished that rumour.
‘Antony, no, I don’t think anybody at Newcastle would touch him,’ the former Tottenham, Blackburn, Leeds, Burnley and England goalkeeper told Football Insider.
‘Listen, there’s a good player there, but he’s too lightweight for the Premier League, he takes too much time on the ball and it’s a league that’s too quick for him.
‘When you look at other leagues, the Dutch league that he stood out in or maybe the Spanish league La Liga or Ligue 1 [they are] maybe more suited to a player like him.
‘But you look at the way that he’s struggled at Manchester United, Newcastle will look at themselves on a level with Manchester United.
‘They’re competing for the same things, European football, they both want to be in the top four, that’s the type of level that they’re on now.
‘The Newcastle fans nor the board will look at Anthony and go, “That’s going to improve us in any way”.’
Jose Mourinho’s Fenerbahce were credited with interest in Antony earlier this month but the Brazil international is said to be focused on reviving his career at Manchester United.
Whether he gets the opportunity to do just that remains to be seen, however, with Old Trafford legend Rio Ferdinand recently claiming his former club would ‘love’ to get Antony off their books.
‘The players they’ve bought this summer, the thing I like about it is there will still be a market for them even if they don’t work out,’ Ferdinand said in reference to the likes of summer signings Leny Yoro, Joshua Zirkzee and Manuel Ugarte.
‘The issue Man United have had before is they’ve bought some big names but is there a market if those deals don’t go right? Can they recoup the money they’ve spent?
‘I think it’s difficult. There’s players that United would have loved to have got rid of before but because their wages and the fees were so high it’s very difficult to recoup the money.
‘Antony is a great example. Are Man United going to get anywhere near £80m for him if he goes back in the market now they’ve got four wingers ahead of him? I don’t think so.
‘These ones that have come in now, if they don’t go to plan, the next market for them they could still get a decent amount of money.’
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