Manchester United ‘close’ to reaching agreement for Ajax winger

Manchester Unit’ed and Ajax are expected to reach an agreement for the tran’sfer of Brazilian winger Antony soon, according to a new rep’ort.

The Red Devils have appa’rently submitted their first official bid in the region o’f €45M (£38.4m) in an attempt to test the resolve of the Dutch E’redivise champions for the 22-year-old winger.

Ahead of the summer transfer win’dow, the Old Trafford outfit have been linked with a move fo’r a number of attacking players following their struggl’es in attack last season.

The 13-time Premier League ch’ampions were said to be keen on recruiting Benfica’s Darwin Nu’nez but have been forced to resign in their pursuit after riv’als Liverpool pulled off a coup and assumed pole-position in th’e race for the striker.

Man United have since tur’ned their focus to Antony, with the attacker having worked toget’her with Erik ten Hag at Ajax. The latter is known to still b’e a big fan of the player and has asked the club to priori’tise the signing of the Brazilian as a main attacking targ’et.

On Friday, multiple rep’orts suggested that the representatives of Anto’ny were in Europe working to agree a deal with Manchester Uni’ted.

This came after the player prov’ided them the green light for negotiations with the Red De:vils to go ahead. Ajax have also been advised by the wing’er to begin talks with the Premier League club and are exp’ected to hold out for a higher fee by rejecting the English c’lub’s initial offer.

According to Brazilian reporter Jorge Nico’la, a source close to the player has revealed that the wi’nger is Erik ten Hag’s primary transfer target at United a’nd that “it’s a matter of time until it’s a do’ne deal”.

Meanwhile, Antony is no the only Aj’ax player on the radar of Manchester United. Dutch internation’als Jurrien Timber and Frenkie de Jong are also reportedly bein’g pursued by the Red Devils with significant headway expec’ted to be made in the talks.