Manchester United have kicked off their deadline day with a bang by securing a fee for Antony from Real Betis after a tiring saga.
Antony will now get his move, and Man Utd have passed a major hurdle which ended his chances of a return to Betis earlier.
The clubs had agreed a package worth £21.6m with £1.8m in add-ons, only for Betis to suddenly realise they can’t afford the player’s salary.
United have now played a blinder and ensured that hurdle is passed with some negotiating, agreeing their first major sale of deadline day.
Antony disappointed in the Europa Conference League
Photo by Nicolò Campo/LightRocket via Getty Images
Man Utd agree Antony sale
The new agreement for Antony, as per David Ornstein of The Athletic, is worth £21.6m, with the add-ons removed, hopefully, to allow Betis to make the gap for his wage cut.
Effectively, United have removed the add-on so Betis can pay that money to Antony instead, while the 50% sell-on clause remains in place.
While that is a poor deal in the context of the fee paid for him, what United paid was wildly over the mark anyway, so some perspective is required.
The major hurdle passed is that United are not going to make any further payment to the player, which means they can finally close the chapter on the player.
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They will hope Antony flourishes in Spain so a club from Saudi Arabia, potentially, bids big for him, allowing United to earn more from the sell-on.
Man Utd are preparing a big move
With Antony’s £21.6m sale combined with Garnacho leaving for £40m and Hojlund’s option-turned-obligation worth £38m, United have finally reduced their net spend to about £100m.
Considering the club were happy to sit at a net spend of £200m before this, it is fair to assume that they are readying a big move.
A midfielder and the goalkeeper for a combined £100m would plug two big holes in the side and set United up for a big window next season when the loan obligations come through.
This is good work for a club that was supposedly going out of business last December had Sir Jim Ratcliffe not intervened!