Antony left Manchester United and left the real Betis on the deadline with a £21.65 million move, but despite getting what he wanted, he is still upset with his previous club
Antony claims he felt “disregarded” by his treatment at the club when he was held on his last day as a Manchester United player. Antony was part of the so-called “bomb squad” for the summer, but later sealed a permanent exit at the transfer deadline.
United spent the whole summer trying to offload a group of five players that Reuben Amorim didn’t want. Antony was joined by Marcus Rashford, Alejandro Garnacho, Jadon Sancho and Tyrell Malacia before exile.
Ultimately, after several dead ends, Antony got his wish with a permanent 25 million euro (£21.65 million) transfer to Betis, where he spent the Happy Loan spell last season. The Brazilian trained separately from Amorim’s first team in United’s Carrington training until the last day of August.
The group was not told in uncertain terms that there was no future under Amorim and that they would find a new club. They were forced to arrive at the training ground at 5pm, with all the remaining players left and training on their own. The policy caused friction behind the scenes, and some staff considered it unnecessary cruel.
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But in the end, Antony, Rashford, Garnacho and Sancho set out and left Malacia as something strange, with the desired effect. Antony is pleased to have moved to Seville forever, but still feels frustrated with the way his previous club handled things.
“They’ve been a very tough month in the UK and trained separately at the hotel for over 40 days… They feel like they’ve neglected me, but that’s not the point,” he told Onda Cerro.
“I don’t want to make any controversy, that’s life. I’m very grateful to the club. There were bad times, but there were good times with two titles. My family traveled to Seville four or five days before the deal was completed.
Antony joined United in September 2022 on a £86 million move from Ajax at the request of Eric Ten Hag, who managed him in Amsterdam. However, this move didn’t work. The Brazilian winger provided 12 goals and five assists in 96 appearances in all competitions.
He was seen by Ir Jim Ratcliffe as an example of the waste of the previous administration, and Ineos approved his departure this summer with great losses.
Antony was impressed with his loan with Betis last season, and had a major impact on the first Europa League match of last week’s campaign, scoring and supporting him by scoring a 2-2 draw with Nottingham Forest. He is currently targeting the Brazilian team’s location for the 2026 World Cup.
“It’s a dream,” he said. “I played in the World Cup, of course, I dream of playing again. It’s always great to represent your country. I’m going to do my job.
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