Real Betis and Antony felt like the perfect fit last season. After a disastrous spell at Manchester United, the Brazilian winger found his feet again in Spain, rediscovering both his football and his smile. Over five months in Seville, he played 17 times, bagged five goals and two assists, and gave Betis the spark they’d been missing on the wing. The fans loved him, he loved the football – and the talk was always that a permanent deal would follow.
United, let’s be honest, will be happy to move him on. His £81.3m transfer from Ajax in 2022 has been nothing short of a disaster. It’s the second-biggest fee in the club’s history, only behind Paul Pogba, and it’s hard to imagine a worse return. After a lively start, Antony’s confidence collapsed. By the end, he wasn’t even in the picture – his last league start was that 4-0 embarrassment at Crystal Palace in May 2024, and his final goal came against Burnley a week earlier. For a player who was meant to be a talisman, it was grim.
The player himself admitted just how bad things had got. In an interview with TNT Sports Brazil, Antony spoke of “very hard days” in England that even hurt his family life. At Betis, he said he’d found happiness again. No wonder both sides wanted a deal done.
By Friday evening, reports claimed a bid had been accepted. The suggestion was that Antony could head straight back to Spain, complete a medical, and seal his permanent move. United fans thought it was done. Betis fans thought it was done. But then came the twist.
Betis suddenly released a statement saying: “Betis has retired its offer. Betis cannot afford a transfer fee, nor the amounts the player is supposed to receive.”
Cue the head scratching. This, remember, is the same Betis who have already cashed in this summer by selling Johnny Cardoso to Atletico Madrid for €24m and Jesus Rodriguez to Como for €20m. They’ve also spent around €30m on five new signings: Natan from Napoli, Rodrigo Riquelme from Atleti, Gonzalo Petit from Nacional, Valentin Gomez from Velez Sarsfield, and Nelson Deossa from Monterrey. All that while telling the world they can’t afford Antony? It doesn’t quite add up.
Of course, one sticking point seems to be wages. Antony is on a big contract at United until 2027, and there are whispers about outstanding payments that need sorting. That’s tricky, yes, but if Betis truly want him, they can’t keep playing the “we’re broke” card after spending so freely elsewhere. United are perfectly entitled to stand firm on their valuation, especially with Antony’s stock boosted by his form in La Liga.
The way Betis officials have handled this doesn’t shine brightly on the club. After months of flattering the player and publicly positioning themselves as his safe haven, to now retreat with excuses feels poor. If they want Antony, they need to show it. If not, at least stop pretending it’s a question of affordability.
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Image sourced from Flickr.
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