Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim insisted he wants to keep Antony at the club, faced the media ahead of the game against Brighton and Hove Albion at Old Trafford.
Asked initially about his concerns of the playing performance of Manuel Ugarte, Amorim defended his Uruguayan midfielder.
“The players will get used to that. I’m trying to be honest with you guys. I talk openly about the game. You are focused on what I said about Ugarte. Ugarte was tired because he did a great job against Liverpool.
“If you look at the game against Arsenal, maybe Ugarte and Bruno [Fernandes] were the best players against Liverpool. They didn’t play against Newcastle. I think that happens with all players in the Premier League. They can play, but they don’t play the same way.”
Brazilian winger Antony has fallen out of the squad recently but Amorim stated that he does not want to let go of any of his players.
“Like I said, I want to keep my players, I’m focused on these players. I don’t know what is going to happen this window, we’ll see. But he did a good job [against Southampton].”
The Portuguese gaffer was also asked if he is worried about Rasmus Hojlund’s lack of goals after the striker has netted just seven goals in 25 appearances this season.
“I think it’s a team problem. You can see it, it’s not just from now, it’s from the past. So we have clearly a lack of goals and a lack of threat.
“When you threaten the opponents, the opponents maybe don’t press you so high. So everything is connected. All the players have moments in this season. I think when we started this journey together, Rasmus was the player that was always scoring.
“So he can come back in the next game, we will see. But I think it’s more a team problem than a Rasmus problem.”
