Antony is performing well for Real Betis. (Image: 2025 Angel Martinez)
At a press conference at Carrington last month, Ruben Amorim was asked why many players had underperformed at Manchester United and succeeded when they left the club. "I don’t know. Sometimes it’s like that. It can happen in any club," he initially responded before elaborating.
"This is a club with a lot of pressure and in this club you have to have a base with younger players, talented players, come to a team with one strong base, in the moment we don’t have that.
"You feel it in [Patrick] Dorgu, he was a little bit nervous in the first moment. You need to cope with the pressure, sometimes they go to other clubs and they are freer with no pressure."
Antony is the perfect case study. There were high hopes for the Brazlian when he signed for United in a £86million deal from Ajax in the summer of 2022, but he failed to replicate the form he showed in the Netherlands and he was sent on loan to Real Betis in the January transfer window.
He contributed just 12 goals and five assists in 96 appearances in Manchester, however, he's had no problem finding the back of the net in Spain, scoring four goals in 11 appearances since his move.
Real Betis are covering a minimum 84 per cent of Antony's salary and those wages have been worth every penny, as the 26-year-old has helped them up to sixth position in La Liga.
Junior Pedroso, Antony's agent, recently gave an interview to Spanish outlet Marca about his client's improvement and he suggested he wasn't responsible for his disappointing time at United.
"We respect the opinion of coach Ruben Amorim, but we completely disagree with his analysis [of the winger]," said Pedroso. "To attribute Antony's lack of success at Manchester United solely to the question of physicality is a very superficial argument and does not reflect reality.
"The truth is that Antony has not had enough prominence or the confidence necessary to play his best football. Of the 15 games in which Amorim managed Manchester United, he only used Antony in nine, with a total of 252 minutes played. This represents only 18.6% of the total possible minutes (1,350 minutes). How can you judge an athlete without a minimum sequence to prove his worth?
"The manager's statement, although perhaps it was not his intention, ends up devaluing La Liga and the Spanish competitions. Spanish football has one of the most competitive leagues in the world, with top-level teams that constantly compete in the final stages of the Champions League and the Europa League.
"The reality is that Antony, since he arrived at Real Betis, has become one of the best players in the team and in the competition itself, demonstrating his full potential when given the right conditions to develop his game. This highlights that the problem was not the physicality, but the context and the way he was managed in Manchester.
"Many players who do not prosper at United find success at other clubs, which leads us to wonder if the problem really lies with the players."
Antony's agent demonstrated a huge lack of awareness to blame United for his regression. The winger has nobody but himself to blame and supporters were delighted to see him leave.
There have been several players who have succeeded after United and they weren't cut out to play for the most scrutinised club in England, which Amorim discussed at his press conference.
Antony was a colossal transfer mistake and will be remembered as one of the club's worst signings.