Man Utd icon Peter Schmeichel warns fans not to put too much pressure on Antony

Peter Schmeichel has insisted fans should not over-hype Antony despite Manchester United’s new £85million signing scoring on his debut.

The Brazilian winger, who joined on transfer deadline day from Ajax, coolly finished past Arsenal’s Aaron Ramsdale to help Erik ten Hag’s side beat the league-leading Gunners 3-1 on Sunday.

But legendary former United goalkeeper Schmeichel told BBC Radio 5 Live that supporters must not put too much pressure on Antony and allow him time to adapt, despite the perfect start to his Old Trafford career.

The Brazilian winger, a new £85million signing, scored on his debut against Arsenal on Sunday

He said: ‘We spent a lot of money on him and you need to put your faith in the manager a little bit and believe he knows what he’s bringing in. We all know it’s a very big difference coming from other leagues into the Premier League and, on top of that, having to perform for Manchester United.

‘When it’s going well, they get praise and hopefully Antony can do well every game. He played well and is grabbing all the headlines today. But we don’t want to put too much pressure on him though and have to let this young man settle in and get used to the Premier League because it’s not going to be an easy ride for him. 

‘It’s not an easy ride for anyone coming to this league and especially playing for United. We’ve seen it many times before. Let’s enjoy that he played really well and have a laugh at where he celebrated his goal [in front of the Arsenal fans].’

United icon Schmeichel urged supporters to give Antony time to adapt to English football

And Schmeichel hailed the way new boss Ten Hag has turned the team’s form around, with the Dutch boss leading United to four straight wins after losing the first two games of the season, including an embarrassing 4-0 reverse against Brentford.

He added: ‘It’s definitely looking different to how it did after the first two games. There’s no doubt that the level is increasing and they are playing a lot better. 

‘What pleases me the most is the mentality, you see the running and putting pressure on the ball, things we haven’t seen the team do for a while. It looks like Ten Hag is getting his message across to the players and they’re responding.’