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A wantaway Manchester United star has made his future that little bit clearer.
In a move that was akin to putting him out of misery he was loaned to Real Betis in January - and that was the spark that made the winger look like the player who Erik ten Hag had rated so highly at Ajax that he was worth £82m of Manchester United’s cash.
Antony is now back with United as his loan deal has expired, but sources in Spain have made it clear to football outlet Fichajes that the 25-year-old Brazilian would really like to return to the Benito Villamarín stadium next too - preferably permanently.
Fichajes said: “The striker has been clear with the Red Devils' management: his absolute priority is to return to Seville. Such is his determination that he has expressed his willingness to take a significant salary cut to facilitate the transaction. Real Betis, aware of the player's willingness, remains closely monitoring the development of the case, although the current financial conditions remain a significant obstacle to finalising a new agreement.”
Antony has ruled out other offers at the moment/
Even if Antony had been in top former in Manchester, there are question marks over whether he would fit into manager Ruben Amorim’s must-play 3-4-3 formation. He is not muscular enough to be a wingback, and Amorim has already signed Matheus Cunha from Wolves for £62.5m and looks to finalise a move for Brentford’s Bryan Mbeumo in the next few days. United have also been linked with Chelsea’s out-of-favour Christopher Nkunku. Antony would be down the pecking order, before you even factor in Amad.
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Manchester United want to be shot of five players - of whom Antony is one - with the others being Marcus Rashford, Alejandro Garnacho, Jadon Sancho and Tyrell Malacia, and wouldn’t be averse to moving Rasmus Hojlund on either, While they are keen to reduce their wage bill, the high price they paid for Antony means that they will want to recoup as much as possible, even though any transfer fee will be well below their Ajax purchase - possibly only about half.
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