Man United’s reported £85m offer makes Luis Diaz look like a stunning bargain – RTK View

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Man United will reportedly make an incredible offer to Ajax for Antony. It’s one that makes Luis Diaz look like a bargain.

The Times claims that Manchester United will make another bid for Antony in the coming days. The offer has now reached €100m or £85m – a staggering amount.

It would make Antony one of the most expensive players of all time and a bid that puts new perspective on many. Antony, after all, is still a relatively unproven winger. He’s not someone expected to make an immediate impact – not on the level of £85m, anyway.

Should United push through with the offer, it would make Liverpool’s Luis Diaz look like a stunning bargain.

Man United ready Antony offer

Now, we rate Antony highly. He’s a fantastic talent and could go on to become a world-class player. Could. United would be paying the kind of fee as if he were already a world-class player, with them seemingly willing to go all-in on his potential.

They’ve done this before, of course, and most recently with Jadon Sancho. As we saw with him, though, things don’t necessarily click in the way you expect them to. It’s very easy to see a similar situation with Antony.

Especially as Antony’s raw numbers are good but not stunning in the Eredivisie. He scored eight times and assisted another four across 23 games last season. The year before that, he scored nine and assisted eight. They suggest he’s a wonderfully promising player at 22 but far from someone who’s going to immediately impact the Premier League.

And compare that to Luis Diaz, who arrived at Liverpool last January. The Colombian had 14 goals and four assists in 18 Primeira Liga games – a phenomenal record that had all of Europe taking notice. The Reds felt comfortable going in on that.

But most importantly, Liverpool only paid £37m upfront for Diaz, potentially rising to £49m. It’s an enormous difference and the kind of fee you’d expect to pay for a special talent from outside of Europe’s Top 5 leagues. Both Antony and Diaz are special talents outside of those leagues – only the latter had a far superior record and cost far, far less.

Liverpool are already thrilled with Diaz, of course. But if that Antony deal goes through, they’ll forever view him as a magnificent bargain.