Antony cut an emotional figure when talking about his time at Manchester United during his first interview as a Real Betis player.
After a successful loan at the La Liga team in the 2024–25 season, in which he contributed with nine goals and five assists in 26 appearances for the Andalusian club, Antony, 25, completed a deal worth up to £21.6 million from Man United to Real Betis on transfer deadline day.
The 25-year-old Brazilian, who made 96 appearances for the Premier League team since joining from Ajax in 2022, has signed a five-year contract with the Spanish team, ending his time at Manchester United.
In a prior interview with TNT Sports Brazil earlier this year, the winger talked candidly about the challenges he encountered while playing for United and stated that he lost interest in the game.
“It was a moment when I thought about stopping playing,” Antony said.
“I no longer felt that desire to play football because of everything I was going through, because of all the accusations and because I had remained silent for so long.”
He added: “I went through difficult times (at United) when I no longer felt that pleasure. I even told my brother that I couldn’t take it anymore.”
Additionally, the 25-year-old was clearly happy off the field and performed significantly better on it while he was at Betis.
Prior to Antony’s permanent transfer to Betis, however, things did not go as planned. Before Betis issued a statement stating that the transaction was off, the arrangement encountered a roadblock just as it seemed to be almost finalized.
According to BBC Sport, Antony “wanted part of his United contract to be paid off,” which is why the offer was withdrawn.
However, the stated problems were fixed, and the arrangement was amended to include a 50% net sell-on option with no player payout.
On Tuesday, Antony was unveiled as a Betis player amid mass excitement from the club’s supporters who were gathered at Seville airport.
The player has since spoken about his time at United once more.
“What happened in Manchester, only I know how difficult it was,” said a visibly emotional Antony during his unveiling.
“I’m sorry. Training separately, but that’s part of life. I knew this moment would come. It’s in the past.”
Of course, before his exit, Antony was part of a group of out-of-favour players dubbed the ‘bomb squad’ at United, which included Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho, Tyrell Malacia and Alejandro Garnacho.
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