- George Dempsey
- 19 December 2024
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Manchester United will hope to build on a stunning derby win when they face Tottenham Hotspur in the Carabao Cup quarter-finals on Thursday night.
Antony Matheus Dos Santos, more commonly known as Antony, is a Brazilian footballer who plays for Manchester United in the Premier League.
Antony is also famous for his role in winning gold with the Brazil Under-23's team at the 2020 Summer Olympics.
He was spotted by Sao Paulo at age 10, and was offered his first pro contract in 2010 where he was initiated into their academy.
Dutch giants Ajax quickly snapped him up in 2000, where he won the Eredivisie twice and the KNVB Cup. It wasn't long before the Premier League came knocking.
Antony's early career
Antony was brought up in a favela, but his football talent was soon spotted by local team Sao Paulo, who inducted him into their youth academy at the age of ten.
During his time at the academy he struggled for minutes on the pitch and was almost released, but managed to keep his place as staff eventually saw his potential.
One of Antony's greatest achievements in the academy was helping his team win the junior league tournament in Japan in 2018, where he was named best player. As a result he was fast-tracked into the senior team that same year.
Antony made his first debut with the senior team on the 15th of November in 2018 in a draw against Gremio. He was then subsequently dropped back to play in the Copa Sao Paulo de Futebol Junior where he excelled - scoring four goals, six assists and netting in the final which his team won.
He returned to the Sao Paulo first team and had his breakthrough season in 2019, scoring four goals in 29 appearances in Campeonato Brasileiro Serie A.
Despite the Covid-19 break in action, Antony had done enough to earn himself a big money move to Europe.
Antony at Ajax
Antony signed a pre-contract with Dutch giants Ajax in February 2020, and officially joined the club for a £13million on a five-year deal.
He scored on his debut on September 13 in a 1-0 win at Sparta Rotterdam and later went on to make his debut in the Champions League in November 2020, scoring his first goal in the competition in a 2-1 win against Midtjylland.
During his time in the club, Ajax became the first Dutch club to win all six Champions League group games in their history with Antony scoring two goals and five assists against Sporting CP and Borussia Dortmund.
Antony was rewarded with the league's player of the month and talent of the month award after his performance scoring 3 goals and one assist.
He scored 24 goals in 82 games for Ajax helping the club to the Dutch Eredivisie title in 2021 and 2022, and also had a hand in the Dutch Cup win in 2021.
Manchester United and Antony
In August 2022, Antony joined up with his former manager at Ajax, Erik ten Hag, at Manchester United in a five-year deal that cost the Old Trafford club a whopping £82million, with a further £4.27m in add-ons.
The young star immediately hit the ground running, scoring in his first three Premier League games for the club against Arsenal, Manchester City and Everton. He became the first United player to score in their first three consecutive Premier League matches.
Antony's international career
In May 2019, Antony competed in the Brazil under-23 team for the Toulon Tournament where he won the competition as well as scoring two goals, one in the final against Japan.
He was picked in the Brazil Under-23 squad for the 2020 Olympics where he appeared in all six games and went on to claim the gold medal.
He made his full debut in a World Cup qualifier against Venezuela in September 2021, scoring in extra-time in a 3-1 win.
Antony's personal life
In his early life, Antony and his family would sleep in one room and there wasn't always enough money for food. His area struggled with violence and drug traffickers and getting his family away from this danger was his motivation.
Antony is very patriarchal and stays true to his roots from Brazil. One of his tattoos reads "whoever comes from the favela knows what happened there". During his time with Sao Paulo, Antony made a special friendship with a seven-year-old girl from Brazil named Larissa.
The seven-year-old has been struggling with cancer for a number of years and became a fan of Antony during his time with Sao Paulo, where she lives. From the first time they met in 2019, a friendship blossomed and now whenever Antony scores, he makes the letter "L" with his fingers to reference Larissa.
Antony also shaved his head after winning the Sao Paulo Cup to show support for the girl who was losing her eyesight as well as suffering with cancer.
Antony's net worth
Antony is reportedly earning £10.4m per year at Manchester United.
