29/02/2024
๐๐๐ง ๐๐ญ๐ ๐ฉ๐ข๐๐ค๐๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฐ๐ซ๐จ๐ง๐ ๐๐ง๐ญ(๐ก)๐จ๐ง๐ฒ! ๐๐๐๐๐๐ฆ๐ฒ ๐ ๐ซ๐๐๐ฎ๐๐ญ๐ ๐๐ฅ๐๐ง๐ ๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ค๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐ซ๐ข๐ค ๐ญ๐๐ง ๐๐๐ '๐ฌ ๐๐๐๐ข๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฌ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐ก๐ข๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐จ๐จ๐ค ๐๐จ๐จ๐ฅ๐ข๐ฌ๐ก ๐๐ฌ ยฃ๐๐๐ฆ ๐ฌ๐ข๐ ๐ง๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ซ๐ฎ๐ ๐ ๐ฅ๐๐ฌ
The Red Devils had the exciting Sweden winger on their books but decided to make an expensive and wild bet on the Brazilian instead
The date is February 23, 2022, the city is Madrid and Manchester United fans have a new favourite player as well as a new favourite chant. Their teenage idol has silenced the usually deafening Atletico Madrid supporters at the Metropolitano and all that can be heard is a new version of a 1990s smash hit.
"Rhythm is a dancer, Anthony Elanga, come and stop him if you dare," sing the visiting fans. "Comes from Scandinavia, he's United's saviour, scoring goals from everywhere." Elanga has just equalised for United in the Spanish capital and, four days previously, he had scored in a 4-2 win against rivals Leeds.
It helps that he has been with the club since he was 12 and is a pacey winger with tricky feet, following in a fine tradition of United favourites from George Best to Ryan Giggs to Cristiano Ronaldo. There is a sense that he is saving United, too, not just from defeat to Atletico, but also from a gloomy season in which they have already sacked Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and suffered a series of humiliating defeats.
Elanga is also an exciting new figure for United fans to believe in less than a month after that shocking audio of Mason Greenwood emerged, leading to his arrest and his banishment from the squad. The future looks bright for Elanga at Old Trafford.
But fast forward two years and Elanga has left the club, joining Nottingham Forest last summer for a paltry free of ยฃ15 million ($19m), having made just five Premier League starts under Erik ten Hag compared to 14 the previous campaign under Solskjaer and Ralf Rangnick.
Meanwhile, Antony, the player who was signed for a whopping ยฃ85m ($107m) and took Elanga's place in the team, cannot even get in the starting line-up amid an injury crisis. As United head to Nottingham Forest in the fifth round of the FA Cup, the last chance to save their season, it is tempting to conclude that they put their faith in the wrong winger called Ant(h)ony...