Antony has impressed during his loan stint with Real Betis and now the Spanish club are hoping to sign him permanently, with his future at Manchester United looking increasingly doubtful
Real Betis chief Manu Fajardo has confirmed the club are hoping to keep hold of Antony after the Manchester United flop's superb start to life on loan with the La Liga club. The Brazilian lost his confidence at Old Trafford but has been a breath of fresh air at Betis.
Antony has scored four and assisted twice after making 13 appearances under former Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini, having rediscovered his best form.
The 25-year-old previously made a dig at United after admitting he had a smile on his face again in Spain after being frozen out by Erik ten Hag and his successor Ruben Amorim.
There have been question marks over his future following his success with Betis, with the player unlikely to have a future under Amorim after failing to start a league game for United this season.
And now Betis chief Fajardo has spoken out on his future by saying the club are keen to sign Antony permanently and will do "everything possible" to make that happen.
“It’s a source of satisfaction on a personal level, but it’s the result of teamwork," Fajardo told Mundo Deportivo when asked about Antony's superb form at Betis so far. Although I’m responsible for the sporting direction, there are many people involved in this signing. It’s still early days, but we’ll try in different ways to do everything possible to continue enjoying Antony."
Antony has started every game he has played in since arriving at Betis after becoming a key player under Pellegrini, leading the team to eight victories in all competitions. He has helped lift them to sixth in the La Liga table and has been part of the squad that has advanced to the UEFA Conference League quarter-finals.
In February he spoke about his struggles at United and how Betis had helped lift his confidence. He said: "I wasn’t playing much, but I’ve been working hard. I needed to be happy with myself. The best version of being happy with myself is the most important thing. I played very little in Manchester, but I’m grateful to them and also to the coach, who spoke to me."
He added: "The most important thing is that I have found myself again. But when I say that I've found myself here, I'm happy, the people are like us in Brazil. The sun helps a lot. I'm very happy here. I wake up every day with a smile and that's very important."
Pellegrini said he couldn't understand why Antony had not progressed at United, saying: "The most important thing has been his attitude and his self-criticism. If they paid that much money for him it is because he is a player of a great level, who for reasons unknown to me was not able to perform as expected at Manchester United.
"It is a revenge on himself to show that he is a much more mature player. I have spoken a lot with him to make him calm, without wanting to show great things, but to keep it simple.
"He is a great player who does important things for the team, and I hope he continues at that level until the end of the season because he will help us a lot."