Fabrizio Romano confirms Man Utd deal for €100m player

Carlo Garganese

Updated: 19 Jan 2025 08:32 GMT
3 min read

Fabrizio Romano has confirmed that Manchester United flop Antony is on the brink of joining Real Betis on loan.

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Romano reports that Antony will move to Betis on a dry loan until the end of the season with no buy option attached.

Antony has agreed to the move and the final details to make the loan official are now being discussed.

Betis, who are 11th in La Liga, have been in the market for a winger this January and it appears they have now got their man.

Man Utd have been trying for several weeks to offload Antony this month.

The Brazilian has been a disaster ever since Erik ten Hag signed his former Ajax player for United in the summer of 2022 for €100 million.

The presence of Ten Hag at United meant that Antony was often protected - and favoured ahead of others - despite his dismal performances on the pitch.

The sacking of Ten Hag and arrival of Antony only further hastened the inevitable exit of the Brazilian, who has continued to struggle to shine under the Portuguese boss.

United set an asking price of €50m to sell this month but were well aware there was no chance they would receive such an offer.

Thus, United sanctioned a loan move in January in the hope a positive second half of the season will increase his value and create interest for a permanent transfer in the summer of 2025.

© IMAGO - Antony has been a disaster for Man Utd

Antony at Man Utd

Antony joined Man Utd from Ajax in the summer of 2022 for €100m and big things were expected of Erik ten Hag’s former pupil.

However, Antony has been an unmitigated disaster at Old Trafford. He bagged just four Premier League goals and two assists in his inaugural season and looked well short of the physical, mental and even technical levels required to play for such a big team.

Last season, Antony was even worse with just one Premier League goal and one assist.

Despite this, Ten Hag often persisted with Antony in the starting XI but things have gone from bad to worse for the Brazilian.

Antony has not started a game this season in the Premier League or Europa League, playing just 83 minutes of league football off the bench. He has one goal and just 400 minutes across 14 games in all competitions this season.