Former Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag could be about to do his old club a massive favour in the transfer market.
According to Sky Germany journalist Florian Plettenberg, Ten Hag is keen on a surprise move to sign Man Utd flop Antony for his new club Bayer Leverkusen this summer.
Antony has just spent the last six months on loan at Real Betis after a nightmare spell at Old Trafford, though he showed some signs of getting back to his best in Spain.
Ten Hag brought Antony to United from their former club Ajax, where they’d worked really well together, and it seems they could now link up again for a third time…
???? Bayer 04 Leverkusen are monitoring #Antony. He’s on the list, but at this stage, it’s nothing more than that.
Leverkusen boss Erik ten Hag was in charge of Manchester United when Antony joined for over £80m in 2022. #MUFC @skysports_sheth | @SkySportDE ???? pic.twitter.com/tmpHQIgDJB
— Florian Plettenberg (@Plettigoal) June 5, 2025
Plettenberg has stressed that, for the time being, Antony is just one of the names on Leverkusen’s list, so it’s not like this is close to being a done deal.
It will be interesting to see, however, if the Brazilian winger ends up being a priority for Leverkusen.
Can Antony bounce back from Manchester United failure?
Antony shone under Ten Hag at Ajax, but couldn’t repeat the trick with the Dutch tactician while they were together in Manchester.
Still, the 25-year-old has done well since leaving MUFC for his loan spell with Betis, playing a key role in helping the club reach the Europa Conference League final.
It could be that he’s just not cut out for the extremely high standards of the Premier League, and he could perhaps continue to get his career back on track with a move to the Bundesliga.
Antony likely to leave in Man Utd mass summer sale
Antony will surely be one of many big names to leave United this summer as Ruben Amorim looks to clear up the mess Ten Hag left behind for him.
One imagines we will also see the likes of Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and perhaps even Alejandro Garnacho and Kobbie Mainoo leave the club.
It would certainly help United if they could sell to fund money for new signings, so Leverkusen could do them a big favour if Ten Hag really pushes them to move for Antony.
