Manchester United will be scratching their heads over the quick start Antony has had in Spain for Real Betis.
After a difficult two years at Manchester United, the club decided January was the right time for Antony to head elsewhere on loan.
Antony joined Betis late in January, and to date, the move has been a massive success for the Brazilian winger.
After winning the Man of the Match award on his debut and scoring on his second appearance, Antony scored an unstoppable goal on Thursday night in the Europa League.
Three games down and he’s winning over plaudits in Spain with the Betis X account labelling him as ‘the goat’. Speaking after the win over Gent, Antony has outlined his happiness at Betis as the fans have been incredibly supportive of him.
Antony is the latest United player to improve drastically after leaving the club, and now Amorim has answered questions on this.
Ruben Amorim, head coach of Manchester United, looks on with Antony of Manchester United during the Premier League match between Manchester United ...
Photo by Alex Livesey – Danehouse/Getty Images
Ruben Amorim quizzed over Antony’s performances for Real Betis
The latest display from Antony has left Giovani Lo Celso raving about the Brazilian’s impact on the previously struggling Betis side.
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His performances – or rather just the goals – have been something which is unrecognisable to United supporters, considering how poor Antony had been for 24 months.
During Amorim’s press conference on MUTV ahead of the visit to Tottenham on Sunday, he was asked about Antony and players excelling upon departing Old Trafford.
“I don’t know,” the head coach explained. “Sometimes it’s like that, it can happen with any club. This club has a lot of pressure, and you have to have a base of a team to put younger and talented players that came from abroad to help them.
“If you are playing better as a team, and you have a strong core like it’s supposed to be at this club, it will be more easy for these kind of players to play football.”
With Antony shining, it would be very easy for revisionism to take place around the £86m winger – but United must not let this happen.
However, it does say a lot that United have had so many exciting players flop – with Amorim spot on with his verdict.
Manchester United shouldn’t have revisionism over Antony
Antony scoring twice in his first three games at Betis will remind fans of September 2022 when Antony had a similar start to life in England, becoming the first Manchester United player in 50 years to score in his first three games.
After costing a whopping £86m, Antony’s output slowed down throughout his campaign and then last season was worse before this season he was an unwanted part of the squad.
Season Games Minutes Goals Assists
2024/25 14 407′ 1 0
2023/24 38 1,910 3 2
2022/23 47 3,371 10 5
So watching Antony tear it up in Spain – as United make scoring a goal look more difficult than drawing blood from a stone – will undoubtedly have some forgetting the way Antony was playing for two years.
The displays Antony has put in are also nothing groundbreaking when the goals are taken away, which suggests his form is unsustainable.
Hopefully, he does well, but the narrative that United should rue letting him depart is rather ridiculous.