Antony's time in Manchester was finally brought to an end on transfer deadline day and the Glazers signed off his exit.
Antony signed for Real Betis on deadline day.(Image: 2025 Fran Santiago)
The Glazer family approved Antony's departure from Manchester United on deadline day.
Antony enjoyed a successful loan at Real Betis in the second half of last season and he held out for a permanent move to Seville throughout the summer transfer window, but negotiations went down to the wire.
The winger travelled to Spain on a private jet alongside his agent, Junior Pedroso, to complete a move to Betis with hours of the transfer window remaining. United received a fixed fee of €22million (£19m), with a potential €3m (£2.6m) in add-ons, and included a 50 per cent sell-on clause in the deal.
Speaking to ABC Sevilla, Real Betis' CEO provided an insight into the negotiations. Ramon Alarcon admitted it was a difficult transfer to get over the line and revealed Betis were forced to wait for the Glazer family to sign off the deal.
Earlier this year, sources confirmed the Glazers retain the right to sign off and veto deals, even though co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe has control of football operations at Old Trafford.
“There was a moment when we saw it was lost because United’s position was difficult,” Alarcon said of the discussions to sign the winger.
“We had a difference of €5m/€6m and had already reached our limit. In the end, we all made an effort, we did our part, and so did the player and United.
“On Sunday, during the match against Athletic, the relationship was very tense. Around noon, United sent the draft contract and asked us to make the changes. It was clear that they were going to comply with our requests.
“In the early hours of Sunday morning, at 2am, we received confirmation. In the morning, we closed the accounting for Antony’s future capital gains because we wanted to have the ability to recover the investment.
"It was one of the most problematic points, but we resolved it. Sunday at 2am is when the situation was unblocked, and we started looking for a plane so he could come on Monday afternoon.
"There was still a bit of stress because everything was agreed upon, but we had to wait for the Manchester United owners in the United States to sign, and they did so at 3pm on Monday.”
Betis struggled to finance a deal for Antony and Alarcon had to get creative to get the deal done.
“We’ve launched a clothing line with Antony, we’re participating with him through royalties, and he’ll also have some non-sporting income from that merchandising," he explained.
“If he ends up being the world star he has been, we at Betis hope to recover the investment and even what it cost us the previous year. It carries a certain risk because this is locked in for five years and at a high cost, but you can potentially reap benefits.
“It’s the most difficult signing I’ve made as CEO because there was a lot of pressure from all the Betis fans. It was taken for granted that he was coming, everyone was asking when he was coming.”
United signed Antony in an £86m deal from Ajax on a five-year contract in the summer of 2022. The winger scored just five Premier League goals during his time at Old Trafford.
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