Antony might be keeping his Manchester United starting role for just one reason

The definition of the word 'gamble' in the dictionary is taking risky action in the hope of a desired result.

Manchester United gambled when investing £86million to sign Antony from Ajax last summer because they paid that sum for the player they believed he would eventually become, not for the player he was at the present moment.

Antony contributed just eight goals and four assists in his final season in the Eredivisie and considering the standard of the Netherlands' first division, that level of output didn't warrant the significant fee that was paid.

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The club objectively overpaid for Antony and they were understood to be aware of that, but Ten Hag had insisted on signing the winger throughout the summer and he discussed his potential to become world-class.

Ten Hag enjoyed working with Antony at Ajax and he was convinced there was more to come from the player in Manchester. The board placed the bet and 12 months later, the jury remains out on whether the gamble has paid off.

Antony's first year at the club was underwhelming. He contributed eight goals and three assists in all competitions and that was a disappointing return, especially when he scored three times in his first as many appearances.

The winger scored against Arsenal, Manchester City and Everton in his first three matches, but the goals dried up after that purple patch and he ended the season with supporters undecided on what to think about him.

His reluctance to take on full-back hadn't helped his cause and he'd become increasingly frustrating to watch. Some argued he'd already become one-dimensional while others said he couldn't be stopped when cutting inside regardless.

It was his first year in the Premier League, so Antony was rightly given the benefit of the doubt, however, he no longer has that excuse in this campaign and it's time for him to deliver; to start looking like a £86m attacking talent.

"In the start, he [Antony] had one or two moments where he should have passed to Christian Eriksen. It's so important in top football, the timing, the right moment to bring the pass is huge," said Ten Hag after a win against Nottingham Forest in April.

"It makes every impact, it makes the difference between a goal and no goal. He [Antony] knows, I know as well, when you are a striker, you need end product," said Ten Hag in April. But already he had quite a lot of end product.

"He scored in all competitions now, eight goals, first year at United is not bad and still games to go. But he has to do it, I can't say in every game, but many games if you want to be a top-class player and especially in all of the competitions."

Antony scored in that game against Forest and it was his most encouraging performance for some time, but even in that display, his passing could have been better and his decision-making when breaking forward was questionable.

He started the opening game of the new season against Wolves earlier in the week and those exact areas for improvement were visible again, as Antony was guilty of overplaying and failing to play a pass at the right time.

There was even a moment when Antony could have created an opening on goal if he'd passed with his right foot, but he hesitated, passed with his left instead and that gave a window for the Wolves player to read his intention.

Wolves swiftly counter-attacked and Lisandro Martinez picked up a yellow card for hacking Neto down, which wouldn't have been necessary if Antony had played the right pass. At least a goal wasn't scored.

Antony was poor against Wolves and he certainly wasn't the only one, but he's got more to prove than most. The pressure is bound to increase on him this term if he performs like he did last season and it's up to him to contribute more.

It would be an inadvisable, knee-jerk reaction to remove him from the starting line-up on the back of the Wolves game, but if more of the same is seen over the next few months, there would be a case for him to lose his starting role.

The obvious problem is the lack of depth on the right side. Antony has nobody challenging him for his position because despite bright cameos, Facundo Pellistri is not trusted and Jadon Sancho is best on the left flank.

Antony will start against Tottenham and hopefully, he can start to vindicate his selections sooner rather than later.