The perception a high-profile £85 million Brazilian winger conjures in the mind is one of outrageous flair and incredible ability; a skilful student of the samba school of soccer; an attacking force who simultaneously puts defenders on their backsides while getting fans off of theirs. The reality of Manchester United’s premier summer signing has been slightly different however.

Antony has experienced a mixed bag in his first six months at Old Trafford, impressing at times and disappointing at others, with a pervading sense that he is not the player United fans had anticipated, nor wanted. But does this conflict in expectation stem from erroneous perceptions or substandard performances? The answer appears to lie somewhere in the middle.

The summer pursuit of the Ajax winger was a protracted one. The Dutch club were adamant in their stance that he would not be going anywhere, given the large number of departures to have already left Amsterdam that transfer window. An exception could be made for an exceptional fee but Ajax officials felt it was unlikely a bid that size would arrive.

It initially appeared the executive branch at Manchester United agreed with this assessment. The club’s opening offer was refuted and Sky Sports reported at the end of July that the winger was ‘completely off the agenda’, such was the discrepancies in fee. But, as has been a theme throughout the post-Ferguson malaise, poor performances on the pitch engendered reactive decisions off it.

Erik Ten Hag’s tenure began in explosively poor fashion. An opening day defeat to Brighton at Old Trafford was followed by a derisory 4-0 loss away to Brentford, with the Dutchman’s ship seemingly on the verge of sinking before it had even left the harbour. Roughly two weeks, and many panicked negotiations, later Antony was signed for an initial £80.5 million, with £4.5 million in add-ons – a price United had baulked at a month prior. An exceptional price proving the exception to Ajax’s usually resolute stance.

But it’s a fee which does not reflect the reality of a 22 year-old winger arriving in England from the Eredivisie, after two only years in European football. It’s a fee which demonstrates the consequence of negotiating from a position of weakness in the face of unwavering strength. A fee which illustrates the scarcity of available talent on the right-wing; a position Manchester United were desperate to invest in. A fee which made Antony the 13th most expensive player in history following a season as a winger with only 12 league contributions. A fee not commensurate with the footballer basically.

As such, expectations must be adjusted from the perception associated with the price towards the reality of the player. Antony has evident strengths; technically sound, excellent at ball-retention, great at pressing and when pressed himself, hard-working in both directions of the pitch, and an ability to cut in on his favoured (okay, much favoured) left foot to deadly effect. Correlation does not necessarily equal causation, but it appears Manchester United build attacks more consistently with Antony on the pitch.

Yet he undoubtedly lacks pace – a cardinal sin for wingers in the Premier League. He also lacks an ability to consistently beat his man and appears to take the wrong option at the crucial moment too often, resulting in the breakdown of promising attacking opportunities. He is utterly devoid of a right foot which, when combined with his speed deficiency and hesitancy to take on the fullback, makes for frustrating viewing. Especially when the club spent a similarly eye-watering amount the year prior on a winger who fell afoul of similar flaws.

Antony’s early United career has shown a combination of strengths and weaknesses which, while demonstrating promise, require serious fine-tuning to make the grade, let alone justify the price. Under the stewardship of the manager to first welcome him to Europe, however, Antony is in the right environment to maximise his potential. But while Ten Hag may know the type of player he demanded the United board sign, fans will have to recalibrate expectation and reallocate any frustrations towards the executives who sanctioned the price. United’s new no.21 certainly didn’t set his price, nor did he pay it.

Antony therefore appears, at his best, to be an effective cog in a well-oiled machine. A player who will help a manager implement their philosophy, rather than a superstar who transcends tactics; not necessarily a match winner, but a performance enabler. He helps maintain consistent possession of the ball, even under pressure; an integral component of Ten Hag’s system. He presses well and tracks back; prerequisites to play under the Dutch manager. He displays a level of desire and attitude on the pitch which Old Trafford has been starved of in recent years; attributes Ten Hag has demanded his squad display more of in interviews. And while these talents do not necessarily equate to an £85 million price tag, nor are they the exciting ones fans yearn for, they are valuable, particularly for a new manager attempting to implement a boldly new style of football.

Erik Ten Hag, consequently, may be the only person in Manchester who is content with Antony’s transfer thus far. This, fundamentally, may be because he was the only person with the correct expectations of it. A 22 year old winger – coming from a weaker league to the strongest one in Europe for the first time, playing for the biggest club in England, with a brand new selection of team mates – will take time to adapt. Antony’s positional colleagues for example, Riyad Mahrez and Mohamed Salah, were plying their trade at Le Havre and Basel respectively at similar ages. The price creates a clamour for instant success and gratification amongst spectators, which can lead to the dismissal of the more subtle moments of progress a coach will notice. If fans can disregard the price and focus solely on performance, both individual and collective, they may start to see what their manager does.

Darragh Fox