Former Chelsea striker Chris Sutton has claimed that Bukayo Saka is currently ahead of Mohamed Salah as the best winger in world football but laughed off the idea of Manchester United ace Antony being included in the same conversation. Saka has enjoyed a stellar campaign for both club and country, with his exploits for Arsenal having been crucial in shaping their Premier League title charge over the course of this season.
Saka has also starred for England in recent months and put on a spectacular showing against Ukraine on Sunday, with his long-range goal helping to secure victory as the Three Lions scored twice without reply under the Wembley arch. Sutton was left in awe of Saka’s latest contribution and insisted after the full-time whistle that he is even ahead of Salah and Riyad Mahrez at the very top of the worldwide pecking order.
“Saka is winning the battle on the right,” Sutton told BT Sport while discussing the topic of the best wingers on the planet. “Salah has not been the same footballing force for Liverpool this season. Mahrez is incredibly talented for Man City but I would rank Saka ahead of him.”
Sutton went on to poke fun at the suggestion of Antony being on the same level as the aforementioned trio, with the Brazilian winger having failed to win over all of his doubters during his time at Old Trafford so far.
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“I won’t be taking any suggestions of Antony seriously,” added Sutton. “The United man probably has Saka posters hanging on his bedroom wall!”
Antony has scored on just three occasions in the Premier League since joining United from Ajax over the summer, while he is also yet to provide a single league assist for the Red Devils. To make matters worse, all three of his goals came in the early part of the campaign and he has not managed to find the net domestically since October.
The 23-year-old’s performances, when combined with a mix of persistent injury problems, have raised some big questions over the jaw-dropping £85million transfer fee that was paid by the Red Devils to secure his signature less than a year ago. It remains to be seen whether Antony will be able to silence his critics over the coming weeks and months as United go in search of further silverware to add to their recent Carabao Cup triumph before the campaign draws to a close.
The subject of Antony being mocked by pundits is nothing new in spite of Sutton’s latest comments, with Darren Bent having recently pointed out his tendency to pull off clever tricks without actually beating a defender or creating a chance for his team.
“All tricks and flicks, no substance at the minute,” said Bent on talkSPORT. “He’s doing all this stuff but he’s not going past anyone. It’s not like he’s doing a trick to manipulate the ball to go past someone, he’s just doing it for the sake of it.
“A little bit like the spin, at the time I was like: ‘Ah come on, it’s only a spin’. You clip all the best bits of a footballer and you look at it on YouTube and go: ‘Wow, I can’t believe we’re signing him’. But where’s the substance in between, where’s the end product? I know he started off alright at United, couple of good goals, but where’s the end product?”
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