Former Manchester United centre-back Jaap Stam has said that Antony is "not good enough" for the Red Devils and admitted he was "surprised" by how much the club paid for him.
The 20-time English champions spent in the region of £82m to sign the Brazil international from Ajax during the summer of 2022.
The forward has made 61 appearances for Man United in all competitions, scoring eight goals and registering three assists in the process.
Antony has struggled this term, failing to score or register an assist in 17 appearances, and he again found it difficult to make his mark against Bayern Munich in the Champions League on Tuesday.
Stam, who represented the Red Devils between 1998 and 2001, has claimed that Antony does not have the required quality to represent the Premier League giants.
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"From what I've seen from Antony, he's not good enough for this level that we're looking for at United," Stam told Gary Neville's Stick to Football podcast.
"Because you're also looking for a player who can have a difficult time and struggle when he comes in, but [we can see] where he is making progress to get to that level.
"When you're looking at Antony now, at this moment, you don't see where he can make the progress to make the next step in the Premier League to be up there with the top wingers who can make a difference.
"In Holland, he did okay but it wasn't like he was the best player in Holland. He did okay for Ajax but then again, they're playing in a league with a couple of good players, and the rest of the league - with all respect – are mediocre players.
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"They're [Ajax] always dominating so he could always do his trickery, put the crosses in and play a one-two.
"But at this level - and that's down to recruitment together with the management – they need to make the right choices to bring the players in who can really make a difference in the Premier League. I was surprised by Antony's fee."
Antony recently said that he is 'silently rebuilding himself' and hit out at the recent criticism of him "from former club players and other people in the media".
The forward was given a leave of absence by Man United earlier this season to deal with allegations of assault from his former girlfriend Gabriela Cavallin and one other woman.
Antony, who started his professional career at Sao Paulo, managed 24 goals and 22 assists in 82 appearances for Ajax between 2020 and 2022.
Matt Law
