Manchester United are planning to sell Antony this summer after an impressive loan spell at Real Betis.
Antony’s loan move to Real Betis has seen the Brazil international resurrect his career.
The 25-year-old picked up several MOTM awards in his first games. In 11 appearances across all competitions for Betis, Antony has become the fans’ most-loved player after recording eight goal contributions.
Manchester United will hope that Antony keeps shining for Betis until the end of the season because it will strengthen their stance when they try to move him on in the summer.
However, it remains to be seen whether Betis will be able to afford a deal to keep Antony.
It’s worth noting that the Reds tend to struggle when it comes to selling players. They are already aware that they will make a loss on the winger after signing him from Ajax for a fee of £86 million in 2022.
Photo by Angel Martinez/Getty Images
Photo by Angel Martinez/Getty Images
Ben Foster warns Man Utd over Antony payout
Former Manchester United goalkeeper Ben Foster has warned that Antony’s departure could come with extra expense for Ineos.
United are still contributing to Antony’s wages, but Foster has revealed his theory behind thinking the Brazilian will demand a major payout to leave Old Trafford.
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Speaking on the Fozcast podcast, Foster said: “With Antony, the rumours are that he’s on around £200,000 a week, and there’s not many teams in world football that can sign him.
“Antony has two or three years left on his deal at Man United and isn’t going to want to take a pay cut by signing for one of these teams on £100,000 a week.
“I don’t care how much money you’re on, if somebody says ‘Your wages are going to get cut by 50 per cent next year’ then it hurts.
“What will most probably happen is if somebody like Real Betis did sign him, Antony will say to Manchester United ‘I will accept the transfer to Real Betis. However, I’ve still got two or three years left on my contract, which is worth £20m or £30m’.
“(He will then say) ‘What you guys need to do is pay me 40 per cent of that’. It stings when you’ve invested so much money into a player…and he’s produced absolutely zero for Manchester United. They’ve sent him out on loan, and then all of a sudden he starts performing.”
Foster’s theory could see Antony request a pay-out of up to £12m, which is not going to be music to the ears of Sir Jim Ratcliffe.
Ruben Amorim is still waiting to find out how much money United will have to spend on transfers in the summer, with spending likely to be dependant on player sales.
What’s next for Antony?
Real Betis are currently sixth in La Liga and they have several big fixtures between now and end of the season.
Manuel Pellegrini will be relying on Antony to provide goals and assists as he did before the March international break.
Antony is in action again on Sunday when Betis host Sevilla, six days before they travel to face La Liga leaders Barcelona.
United will hope to see Antony finish the season strongly.