When Erik ten Hag brought Antony to Manchester United in 2022, the Brazilian winger was seen as the long-term answer on the right wing, with Jadon Sancho more comfortable on the opposite flank.
He started brightly, scoring on his debut against Arsenal, but soon struggled for consistency and rarely delivered standout displays.
In the latter half of last season, Rúben Amorim approved a loan move to Real Betis, where Antony rediscovered the form that had originally earned him a big move from Ajax.
On Deadline Day, the transfer was made permanent, with Betis paying around £21 million and agreeing to give United 50% of any future sale.
The Glazers made Betis sweat over Antony’s move
It was apparent from the first moments of the summer transfer window that Antony’s only desire was to return to Betis, with the winger turning down interest from other clubs in Italy, Spain, and the Saudi Pro League.
While Betis tried the whole summer to secure the Brazilian winger, there was a point toward the end of the window where they felt they had lost the player. Even once a basic agreement had been reached, United’s majority shareholders, the Glazer family, made them wait.
Speaking to ABC Sevilla, Betis CEO Ramón Alcarón detailed how the final 48 hours of the window, when a deal was eventually secured, was one of the most difficult negotiations for the club.
“There was a moment when we saw it was lost because United’s position was difficult,” Alcarón explained.
“We had a difference of €5-6 million and had already reached our limit. In the end, we all made an effort, we did our part, and so did the player and United.
“On Sunday, during the match against Athletic, the relationship was very tense. Around noon, United sent the draft contract and asked us to make the changes. It was clear that they were going to comply with our requests.
“In the early hours of Sunday morning, at 2am, we received confirmation. In the morning, we closed the accounting for Antony’s future capital gains because we wanted to have the ability to recover the investment.
“It was one of the most problematic points, but we resolved it. Sunday at 2am is when the situation was unblocked, and we started looking for a plane so he could come on Monday afternoon.
“There was still a bit of stress because everything was agreed upon, but we had to wait for the Manchester United owners in the United States to sign, and they did so at 3 pm on Monday.”
United got what they wanted this summer
Although United did not raise as much direct funding as they had hoped in the summer transfer window, Amorim got what he wanted – those he deemed as negative influences or surplus to requirements at United all left.
Antony’s sale, Alejandro Garnacho’s £40 million move to Chelsea, as well as the loan moves of Rasmus Højlund, Marcus Rashford, André Onana, and Jadon Sancho, could all end up being major positives for United.
Napoli are obligated to pay United around £38 million to sign Højlund permanently if they qualify for the Champions League. At the same time, Barcelona have the option to sign Rashford for £26-30 million in June 2026.
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Onana may pick up his form and suitors while with Trabzonspor, and the same goes for Sancho at Aston Villa, although the latter’s contract is set to expire next summer if United do not opt to extend his contract.
United raised just over £60 million in sales this summer, with their other exits this summer potentially securing them a further £70 million ahead of the 2026 summer transfer window.
Also, add in loan fees and the saved wages from the loan deals struck in the final few days of the window, and the club have cleared house well in preparation for major additions across the next 12 months.
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