Manchester United green light exit to La Liga side

Manuel Pellegrini will have a new January signing to bolster Real Betis’ ranks, with Manchester United giving the go ahead for Antony to move to the Andalusian side. The Brazilian had agreed terms with Betis earlier this week, but manager Ruben Amorim was yet to approve the deal.

The story that has been reported is that Amorim was keen to ensure that if Antony were to go, he would have reinforcements coming in. With uncertainty over the futures of Alejandro Garnacho and Marcus Rashford, the deal for Antony has been held up.

It would appear he has been given those guarantees now though, as Antony has been given the green light to travel, as per Relevo. According to Fabrizio Romano, Betis will cover a surprisingly high 84% of his wages and bonuses until the end of the season. The loan deal will not include a buy option for Betis. At any rate, Betis seem unlikely to come up with a sufficient fee for United to sanction the exit of their €91m signing from Ajax.

Antony will reinforce the right side of Pellegrini’s attack, a position which has seen Rodri depart in September, and has often been left to Aitor Ruibal or one of Giovani Lo Celso or Pablo Fornals to play. In theory at least, the Brazilian should provide more pace and more of a one-on-one threat out wide, with Ez Abde on the left the only similar profile in the Betis squad.

The 24-year-old has featured on 14 occasions this season for Manchester United, scoring just once, although it should be noted that most of those were cameos. Of those appearances, just twice Antony was named in the starting line-up, and has only accumulated 407 minutes. Antony will no doubt be hoping to kickstart his career in Spanish football after a tough spell at Old Trafford.