Ajax line up Antony replacement as they prepare for Manchester United transfer

Ajax are ready to approach Aston Villa in a bid to line-up Anwar EL Ghazi as replacement for Brazilian winger Antony if he leaves for Manchester United.

United are locked in a stalemate with the Dutch champions having had a £76.3 million bid rejected by Ajax. But the Amsterdam club are actively looking at back-up options - and 27-year-old El Ghazi, who started his career at Ajax, is a possibility.

The Villa star is in the final year of his contract and has fallen out of favour under boss Steven Gerrard. El Ghazi spent the second half of last season on loan at Everton and Villa are prepared to let the Dutchman leave with the West Midlands club valuing the winger around £8million.

PSV Eindhoven are also on El Ghazi's trail with an injury to England Under-21 star Noni Madueke leaving them short.

And if United fail to land Antony and turn their attentions back to PSV winger Cody Gakpo it would leave boiss Ruud van Nistelrooy with a crisis El Ghazi could solve.

It's believed El Ghazi is open to a move back to Holland where he kick-started his career with 23 goals in 100 games at Ajax.

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Meanwhile, United boss Erik ten Hag revealed the strong impression Brazilian midfielder Casemiro has left on his new team-mates following his arrival from Real Madrid. He said: "You can see immediately the impact that he can have so we are really pleased that he is here. He's talking Portuguese and the players who speak it will help him and he has already said he wants to learn English very quickly and that's the way he is.

"He wants to learn, he wants to adapt and he wants to perform. And I'm sure he'll do that really quickly so he can contribute to our success. He is a warrior. That's the way he is. Not everyone is the same, don't get me wrong, but we want a fighting team and we have to construct a team that is hard to beat, and from there on we will win games."

Ten Hag also reflected on United's draw in the Europa League after they were put in a group with Real Sociedad from Spain, Cypriot outift Omonoia and Sheriff Tiraspol, a Moldovan team based in Tiraspol, a city located in the breakaway state of Transnistria.

"Europe is always something special and you don't know your opponents that well," he told United's website. "But I think they will be good opponents. Real Sociedad are a really great club in Spain, now sixth in the league and I saw them coincidentally play at the weekend against Barcelona and they compete really well so they will be tough opponents.

"There are the other two teams too - Sheriff beat Real Madrid last year so they must be good. We have to be really well prepared to do well in this competition."