Edwin van der Sar issues verdicts on Man Utd duo after £142.7m summer spend

Edwin van der Sar is impressed with what he has seen from two of Erik ten Hag’s summer signings at Manchester United.

United ended up being pretty busy in the summer window after a slow start. the Red Devils spent a significant chunk of centre-back Lisandro Martinez, and among other signings, they spent a whopping £86million on snapping up winger Antony from Ajax.

Martinez got off to a slow start for United, but he has since won over just about everyone. The Argentine has been excellent over recent weeks, becoming an undroppable component in Ten Hag’s defence. The story has been a little different for Antony, who has done well, scoring four times in seven appearances, but injury has disrupted his season so far.

With a combined spending figure of around £142.7million, it’s going to take a significant amount of time for United to know whether the two signings, but former Red Devils goalkeeper van der Sar believes both could go on to become key to the club’s future.

“You know in hindsight that managers like the players they work with, the type of football Erik wanted to play, and with Martinez there he has shown his worth now,” van der Sar told The Athletic.

“There were question marks initially, but the way he can read the game, how aggressive he is — what he doesn’t have in centimetres he makes up for in other qualities.”

Speaking about Antony, van der Sar added: “And Antony? “Still young, still potential. We would have liked to keep him here one year longer — there was not a dire need to sell him, we had money in the bank — but the fee got so high. We challenged United to go as far as possible. They have a potential world star.”