Manchester United paid around €95m (£82m) for Antony in 2022, and the size of that fee followed the Brazilian pretty much everywhere at Old Trafford.
Four years later, things look very different for him. Antony has just enjoyed the most productive season of his career at Real Betis, finishing with 14 goals and ten assists from 46 appearances.
He was also named Sofascore’s Player of the Season for the Europa League, having scored six goals and added three assists in ten matches.
All of that makes it a decent time for Antony to look back at Manchester United once again. This time, though, he’s gone beyond the usual talk about finding happiness again in Spain.
Antony admits Manchester United criticism got to him
Speaking to Sofascore in Spain, Antony addressed the huge fee United paid Ajax to sign him.
“Of course the responsibility increases when they pay that kind of money for you,” he said. “But I’ve always been a player who doesn’t like to focus on those numbers. I know they didn’t pay that much for no reason.”
The price tag became an easy stick to beat Antony with as his performances dropped away. And while players will often say they ignore outside noise, he isn’t pretending he managed that.
“A lot of people think it didn’t affect me, but of course it did, a lot,” he admitted. “People say things without knowing the person, they hear something on TV and immediately start talking.”
Antony eventually found his own way of putting all that criticism into perspective.
“If Jesus was perfect and people still talked about him and did what they did to him, of course they’re going to talk about me too.”
| Apps | Goals | Assists | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026/27 (Real Betis) | 8 | 0 | 0 |
| 2025/26 (Real Betis) | 46 | 14 | 10 |
| 2024/25 (Manchester United / Real Betis) | 40 | 10 | 5 |
| 2023/24 (Manchester United) | 38 | 3 | 2 |
More than a month training away from the group
By the end, there wasn’t much doubt Antony needed to leave Manchester United. He had already spent time on loan at Betis and returned to England knowing exactly where he wanted to go next.
“When I arrived and spent three months here, then went back to Manchester, I left already feeling that I wanted to return,” he explained. “I genuinely built something important with Betis. My heart wanted to come back.”
Getting there took a little longer than he would have liked.
“In Manchester, I trained separately for more than 30 days,” Antony said. “Staying in a hotel for more than a month isn’t easy. Thank God my father was there with me too.”
There were other offers, but Antony says Betis remained his first choice.
“My first option was Betis, to get my form back, to be happy again. With every day that passes here, I’m more certain that I made the best choice.”
No Manchester United regret
Given everything that happened, it would be easy enough for Antony to write off his spell at Old Trafford. He isn’t doing that.
“I made a lot of friends, achieved a lot of things and won trophies – that’s important.”
That’s probably a fair way to leave it. Manchester United never got anything close to €95m (£82m) of value from Antony, while the player clearly wasn’t enjoying himself by the end.
Both have since moved on. Antony can now point to the best statistical season of his career and argue there was always a player behind that enormous transfer fee. Manchester United, meanwhile, hardly look like they’re wishing they still had him.
