Manchester United winger Antony has been thrown into the spotlight this season ever since completing his big-money move to Old Trafford from Ajax.
The fact that the Red Devils paid a huge fee of €100m for a star that made his name at the Eredivisie is something many are still finding hard to digest.
Antony has had a topsy-turvy start to his career with the Red Devils. He scored in his first three Premier League appearances for them, but then experienced a blip in form.
The Brazilian winger has started 2023 in impressive fashion, bagging his first goal of the year in his side’s 3-1 win over Everton in the FA Cup 3rd round clash.
Antony is an exciting player to watch because he often tries new trickery and skills to light up the crowd during matches.
He started up a major debate after producing his trademark 360 spin during his side’s game against FC Sheriff Tiraspol in the Europe League group stages a few months ago.
Antony was lambasted by Paul Scholes for doing it at a time when United desperately needed goals.
That triggered some fans who took the winger’s side on this matter, while the Brazilian himself indicated that he won’t be influenced by Scholes’ jibes to stop trying his trickery during games.
He loves doing that move that just involves him doing a 360-degree spin upon receiving the ball, in an attempt to confuse the opposition defenders or cause them to over-commit.
Because this kind of trickery is not that commonly seen, many fans automatically believed that Antony had himself invented this skill move.
That isn’t the case at all. In fact, now some Chelsea fans are coming up with a theory that the Man United winger might’ve stolen the move from one of their own.
The Blues’ young winger Omari Hutchinson has taken massive strides at the youth level since joining them from Arsenal and is now part of the senior squad.
A throwback video of Hutchinson as a child shows just how skilful he was even in his younger days.
At one point in the clip, the Chelsea winger can also be seen pulling off the 360 spin turn, which is why some fans of the London club believe that Antony might’ve taken inspiration from the 19-year-old and is doing it just because of that.
But that isn’t the case at all. Neither is Antony the creator of the particular skill move nor Hutchinson the one to have done it the first. In fact, it’s difficult to even know which footballer created this move.
Cristiano Ronaldo used to be a really tricky player during his initial spell at Manchester United and used to produce the 360 spin move in training at times too.
The only unique thing about Antony is that he has the guts to constantly try to recreate this move during games, even in some tense situations as well.
Erik ten Hag doesn’t appear to have any problems with that and probably only encourages Antony to keep doing it, as long as he can consistently also contribute goals for his side.
