“It’s no coincidence that Manchester United bought him” – Real Betis teammate enamoured with Antony

Real Betis have been strong in the last couple of weeks, and it finally looks like their talented squad is starting to click. Not too long ago, Manuel Pellegrini’s side had been in the bottom half of the La Liga table, but now they are seventh, which should be a European place at the end of the season.

Betis’ talisman is Isco Alarcon, who has started to look like his old self in recent weeks after missing the first half of the season with a broken leg. As per Marca, teammate Ricardo Rodriguez spoke highly of the former Real Madrid playmaker, who scored twice in last weekend’s victory at Getafe.

“There aren’t many like Isco, but I played with a couple who have that level – like Kevin De Bruyne, who was younger and hadn’t yet been in a big team. But Isco is an incredible player, very strong technically, he knows how to play and he is very important for us.”

Rodriguez also spoke on Antony, who has made a flying start to life at Betis since joining on loan from Manchester United. The Swiss defender also expressed his delight at the Brazilian winger being available against Real Madrid this weekend after his red card from the Getafe match was overturned.

“Yes, it’s nice news because he’s in a very good moment and can help the team a lot. He has a lot of quality. It’s good that they haven’t sanctioned him, it’s important for us. I think they also gave me one that was red and no one talks about it, that one was more dangerous than Antony’s.

“It’s no coincidence that Manchester United bought him for so much money. He has quality, and he has shown it in the Champions League, in the Brazilian national team, where it’s not easy to be. It feels very good here because we have a very good team, where we talk a lot, it felt like home. He is happy and that is why he is offering his best version.”