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Manchester United have reportedly set a “final” price of €50m to sanction a permanent exit for Antony this summer.
Antony joined Real Betis during the January transfer window after falling down the pecking order under Erik ten Hag and then failing to break into Ruben Amorim’s plans.
Aware that he would struggle for minutes, Antony elected to move to Betis on loan, where he rediscovered some of the form that convinced United to fork out a whooping £86m to secure his services in 2022.
He scored twice in his first three La Liga appearances and played a key role in Betis’ run to the Europa Conference League finals, where they suffered defeat at the hands of Chelsea.
Antony finished the season with an impressive nine goals and five assists in 25 games. His improved performances earned him his spot back in the Brazil national team.
Unsurprisingly, Betis want to extend his stay with them and the player previously made it clear that he wants to continue at Estadio Benito Villamarín. The problem is, Betis are unwilling to meet United’s asking price, which was initially believed to be worth around £35m to £40m.
The Spanish side want another loan deal with the option to buy him at the end of the 2025/26 campaign. Meanwhile, United are prioritising a permanent sale.
On Thursday, Diario de Sevilla revealed that Cristiano Torelli, a lawyer for the agency representing Antony, his agent Junior Pedroso and the winger’s brother Emerson Santos, who also serves as his manager, all travelled to Seville to try and reach a breakthrough this week.
Antony and his representatives want his future sorted as soon as possible.
According to Fichajes, United have set a “final price” for the 25-year-old winger.
The news outlet claims, “United will only let him go for a fee of around €50 million. That’s the message the English club has clearly conveyed to all the institutions that have inquired about the Brazilian winger, including Real Betis, Atlético Madrid, and Bayer Leverkusen, who are already exploring possible scenarios to try to make the move.”
Fichajes note that United want to recoup most of what they paid for Antony three years ago.
Something that could work in the Red Devils’ favour is that there are multiple suitors lining up to secure Antony’s signature.
Ten Hag’s Leverkusen in particular are on the brink of getting a major financial windfall from offloading Florian Wirtz and they could look to replace the German with Antony.
Featured image Gabriele Maltinti via Getty Images
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