15 February 2024 , 06:54
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Antony 'will score a lot of goals' at Manchester United according to the winger he displaced at the club, Anthony Elanga.
Elanga joined Nottingham Forest in the summer as part of a £15million deal from United, 12 months on from the £82m arrival of Antony from Ajax. Having made his breakthrough under Ralf Rannick in 2021/22, Elanga played just 700 minutes last term under Erik ten Hag as the Dutch coach ensured Antony joined him at Old Trafford.
The Brazilian winger was favoured and ultimately saw Elanga move on in the summer. However, the 23-year-old has managed just one goal and assist this season, both coming against Newport County in the FA Cup.
Elanga has bagged five goals and six assists in his time at the City Ground in comparison and settled in well despite Forest appearing to be in a battle for Premier League survival. Antony meanwhile, could be battling for his Manchester United future.
The former Ajax ace has more than three years remaining on his current deal and has been displaced in United's starting lineup by youngster Alejandro Garnacho.
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Elanga is confident Antony will find success in front of goal for the Red Devils however. The 21-year-old Swede revealed he remains in contact with his former teammate.
"Antony is a great player and a beautiful person," Elanga told SoccerNews.nl. "We had a lot of contact when I was at United, and we still talk sometimes now.
Anthony Elanga has hit the ground running at Nottingham Forest (Getty Images)"I am confident that he will score a lot of goals there. I could already see that during the training sessions. I believe in God, and he told me to go to Nottingham, and Antony is still at United. But he will really be successful there."
Elanga also revealed that he was not forced out of Old Trafford by Ten Hag. The 13-times capped Sweden international explained his summer exit was simply down to wanting more playing time.
He said: "Was Ten Hag the reason I left United? No, I wouldn’t say that. I just wanted to play, that was especially important to me. I’m young and I don’t want to sit on the bench all season, you know? When you’re young you want to play, you want to make mistakes, you want to take risks.
"But he wasn’t the reason for my leaving. There I mainly focused on myself, not on others. But I just wanted to take my chance and go somewhere else. And that was a good decision, because I am enjoying myself at Forest."
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