Manchester United were offered the chance to sign Juventus midfielder Douglas Luiz on loan, according to journalist Fabrizio Romano.
An approach was made by Juve sporting director Cristiano Giuntoli, who was willing to swap the former Manchester City and Aston Villa player for Antony.
Writing in his column for GiveMeSport, Romano said the proposal would have seen Antony moving on loan in the other direction to Turin with “buy option clauses” for both players.
Most Read on ManUNews.com
However, the deal has recently fallen through due to changes in the hierarchy at the Serie A club.
Giuntoli has left Juve
Romano claims the “collapse” of the swap deal involving Luiz and Antony was due to the departure of Giuntoli. It was announced earlier this month that the Italian side had parted ways with their sporting director.
Former Liverpool and Tottenham recruitment chief Damien Comolli has taken up a position as general manager and the Frenchman is not expected to continue with negotiations.
Will Man United be able to offload Antony?
Even though a switch to Italy looks dead in the water, the Red Devils will expect there to be other suitors for the 25-year-old, after he impressed in the second half of last season at Real Betis.
The La Liga side are still hopeful of bringing Antony back to Spain this summer, but they reportedly want another loan deal. For United to agree to such a proposal, Betis would probably have to pay a higher percentage of his wages, as well as include a purchase clause.
For now, the Brazilian will remain at Old Trafford but it isn’t likely that he will be reintegrated into Ruben Amorim’s first team squad.
In other news, a new report claims that Man United have “resumed talks” with the agent of a striker who scored 37 times last season