Erik ten Hag confirms Man Utd's plans for Antony reintegration

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has confirmed Antony could make his return to competitive action against Galatasaray on Tuesday.

The Red Devils return to Champions League action looking to bounce back from their matchday one defeat to Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena.

They welcome Turkish champions Galatasaray to Old Trafford this midweek in their first home Champions League game since a 1-0 defeat to Atletico Madrid in the second leg of their last 16 tie in the 2021/22 season.

Ahead of Tuesday’s match, United have seen Antony return to first-team training. He was granted time away from the club during September to deal with accusations of assault from three women.

The club confirmed on Friday that the winger would resume first-team activities, but he was not named in the matchday squad for United’s 1-0 loss at home to Crystal Palace on Saturday, though he was pictured at Old Trafford.

Speaking at his pre-match press conference on Monday, Ten Hag revealed his plans to reintegrate Antony into the side.

“Antony will be in consideration,” he said. “Yesterday was his first time in team training. We have a final training [session] and then we’ll make a decision. But he will be in consideration, yeah.

“”I think the team news is probably [just that] Antony dos Santos can return.”

Ten Hag was then asked if he was worried about the message that Antony’s return could sent to victims of domestic abuse, to which he replied: “He cooperated fully, it came out he’s not charged.”

Antony could yet still be charged by either or both of Greater Manchester Police and Sao Paulo Police. He voluntarily met with the former last week to give information as part of their ongoing inquiries.