Premier League club Manchester United just can’t sort things out when it comes to the release clause of Antony. Even after selling him to Real Betis the club has suffered a blow. Due to the sudden drop in form, Manchester United loaned Antony out to Spanish club Real Betis, last season. But this particular move changed Antony’s career graph totally. After spending a more than successful spell at La Liga, Antony returned to his parent club. While everyone hoped that Ruben Amorim would finally give Antony his deserving minutes, Amorim made it even worse for the Brazilian attacker. Finally, Real Betis were able to secure a permanent transfer of Antony from Manchester United on the deadline day of this transfer window.
Antony Absolutely Lost It at Manchester United
When Erik Ten Hag became the new head coach of Manchester United, he wanted to bring Antony to England more than anyone. The Brazilian was running the show at Ajax at that time. Ultimately, he signed for Manchester United back in the 2022-23 season. The fans were the most hopeful with this particular transfer. But it became just the opposite of it. Although he was superb in his first few games for Manchester United, the talented right-winger slowly lost his composure. He started to fade away gradually from the first team of the squad. A phase came when he even found it difficult to complete a single correct pass. After winning their last FA Cup, Manchester United finally sacked Ten Hag. But the scenario remained quite the same rather it became more challenging for Antony to feature in games under Amorim. In his short career as a Red Devil, Antony has registered only 12 goals and 5 assists in 96 matches. Under heavy criticism, Antony requested to the club officials for a loan move. He wanted to breathe ‘fresh air’. He has so far lived up to his expectations at Ajax and Real Betis. But, he never found his rhythm while playing for the Red Devils.
🚨 The fee for Antony that has been agreed is £21.6 million with a further £2.6 million in add-ons. Man United will also have a 50% sell-on clause, who hope to benefit if he replicates his Betis form again. [@TheAthleticFC] #mufc pic.twitter.com/arPkowPCdS
— The United Stand (@UnitedStandMUFC) August 29, 2025
Antony had a Special Release Clause while Signing for Real Betis
After having a turnaround in career after playing for the Spanish club, Antony never wanted to go back to England, actually. He kind of knew what would happen again. Before the start of the 2025-26 season, Amorim clarified that he didn’t want four players in his squad anymore. They were Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho, Alejandro Garnacho and obviously Antony. Manchester United were able to loan out Rashford and Sancho. The Alejandro Garnacho saga took so long and the Argentine has now joined Chelsea. Manchester United wanted to loan out Antony again. But the Brazilian desired a permanent move this time. While several Saudi clubs were showing their interest in the Brazilian, Antony never wanted to leave Europe this early in his career. So, he waited patiently for the right time. He had to keep on doing training with the reserve team of Manchester United.
Finally, Real Betis offered their official bid for the player. One day before the end of this summer transfer window, Antony officially signed for the Spanish club. Real Betis have paid £22.5 million for their player. But here is the twist, they don’t have to pay this transfer fee in full until there are add-on fees. Due to this, Manchester United won’t receive a single penny unless Real Betis decide to buy out the whole release clause. Obviously this has caused some issues but Manchester United’s financial board are confident that it won’t affect much. They have loaned out Andre Onana also. Now, if they succeed in releasing Tyrell Malacia at a reasonable price, the club can absorb this loss. This special condition in the release clause of Antony has surely come out of the syllabus, though.
Stay tuned for more news.