Manchester United winger Antony has hit back at some of the club’s former players for targetting him and trying him in a “digital court.”
United signed Antony from Ajax in the summer of 2022 for a whooping £85m. In his maiden season, he managed a decent eight goals and three assists in 44 appearances across all competitions/
This term, however, has been an entirely different story. The Brazilian is yet to register a goal or even an assist.
Earlier during the campaign, Antony was granted a leave of absence by United after multiple women publicly accused him of among other things, assault, violence and causing bodily harm.
At the moment, Antony seems to have slightly lost favour under Erik ten Hag, who has recently opted to deploy Marcus Rashford on the right wing, with Alejandro Garnacho tasked with the responsibility of playing on the left flank.
Antony has had his fair share of critics, not only from supporters but also club legends.
Last year, Paul Scholes labelled the 23-year-old a “one-trick pony” for his over-reliance on his left foot. After the Manchester derby last month, Gary Neville slammed the forward for kicking out at Jeremy Doku while the Red Devils were losing at Old Trafford.
In a frank interview, Antony opened up on his critics and said, “I see criticism coming from former club players and other people in the media, who unreasonably express their opinions and influence thousands of fans, sometimes even when I do not play.”
“But I’ve never seen them give constructive criticism, which will help me be a better professional. None of them have ever sent me a message to see how I am feeling, especially during this period of turbulence that I am going through.”
He added, “The ‘digital court’ is ruining lives – contexts are left aside, and the truth no longer matters. I am silently rebuilding myself, and I know that I will be able to be in my best physical and mental shape and overcome all these barriers and challenges that are in front of me because it has always been like this in my life.”
“No one has ever given me anything, I have always fought hard for everything I achieved. I would like to know how these people who make these unfair and malicious criticisms [would have] fared in my place.”
Antony admitted that his life has changed radically over the last four years and it hasn’t always been easy to accommodate the shift from growing up in poverty in São Paulo in his native Brazil to now playing for the biggest club in England.
He explained that as it stands, his primary battle is getting back in top shape and performing at the very highest level on the pitch.
The United man revealed that he is still working to fully adapt to the Premier League and obviously get his numbers up.
He remarked, ” I am working hard to reach my best level soon.”