Ajax star Jurrien Timber has defended Antony for forcing through his move to Manchester United and backed the other teammates who tried to follow his example.
It proved to be another tumultuous summer for Ajax, with a long list of big name, first-team stars departing the club.
The last to do so was Antony, who secured a €95m move to Manchester United late in the window following months of speculation about his future.
Ajax had initially proven to be reluctant to sell, with the player going as far as to refuse to train to force through the move to Old Trafford.
He followed in the footsteps of teammate Lisandro Martinez, who had also refused to train to secure himself a move to Manchester United.
They set something of a precedent for the rest of the squad, with teammates Edson Alvarez and Mohamed Kudus following their examples in an effort to secure moves to Chelsea and Everton.
Those two did not get their wish, though, with Ajax putting their foot down and refusing to do any more late deals and decimate their squad further.
That meant neither Everton nor Chelsea got their men, both of whom have been criticised heavily in the Netherlands for their actions. Timber, though, doesn’t buy into that.
“I can understand Antony (did it) at such a high offer. Whether you should then not train, I do not know,” FC Update report him saying.
“Mohammed Kudus is on the bench. For Edson Álvarez Chelsea is a unique opportunity. I wouldn’t do it so quickly myself, but I can only say that when I’m in his situation.
“They are in the moment. You don’t know what they are feeling. I think background also plays a role.
“For them, Ajax is more of an intermediate step. They came from another country to go to a bigger club via Ajax. They feel at home, but they are also not at home.”
