Man Utd are closing in on their first summer departure with Atletico Madrid ‘very close to completing a move’ for Antony, according to reports.
The Red Devils allowed the Brazil international to leave Old Trafford and move to Real Betis on loan until the end of the season in the winter transfer window.
Man Utd spent around £87m on Antony in the summer of 2022 but he made very little impact in his two-and-a-half seasons at Old Trafford.
Antony contributed just five Premier League goals and three assists in 62 appearances with the 25-year-old making no league starts this season before the Red Devils offloaded him to Betis.
But the Brazilian has been impressing in La Liga with the winger contributing six goals and two assists in 19 matches in all competitions for the Spanish outfit.
Real Betis have been keen to make the move permanent in summer with Man Utd hoping to permanently remove him from their books.
And now reports in Spain claim that Atletico Madrid are ‘very close to completing a move’ for Antony with the Spanish understood to have ‘submitted a €40 million offer to Manchester United to secure his services.’
Real Betis ‘hoped to negotiate a permanent purchase at the end of the season’ but rivals Atletico Madrid ‘has preemptively made a compelling offer that has convinced United’.
Atletico have been ‘monitoring the Brazilian player’s progress for weeks’ and manager Diego Simeone is ‘convinced that Antony can provide the speed and directness his team needs to make a competitive leap forward in both LaLiga and the Champions League’.
The report adds:
‘The 40 million euro offer from the Red and Whites, presented in the last few hours, has been welcomed by Manchester United, who are willing to part with the player for a sum that allows them to recoup part of the initial investment made when they signed him from Ajax. The deal, in financial terms, is very close to being finalized, and talks are expected to progress rapidly in the coming weeks.’
Real Betis are ‘unable to compete financially with Atletico’s financial muscle’ and the Verdiblancos had hoped their ‘good relationship with the player and with the United team could facilitate a more affordable negotiation’.
And now it looks likely that Atletico Madrid will complete a ‘luxury addition’ for next season and the potential signing of Antony ‘could be one of the first major moves of what promises to be a busy summer at the Metropolitano headquarters’.
Former Man Utd assistant manager Rene Meulensteen recently advised Antony to stay at Real Betis as he “has no future” at Old Trafford.
Meulensteen said: “Antony has no future at Manchester United. If I was him, I’d stay at Real Betis, without a doubt. He’s never really lived up to the expectations or the price tag at United, but he’s found his feet in Spain. He seems to be a lot happier playing football and in life generally at Betis – which is the most important thing.
“If he returned to Manchester, he’d fall straight back into the rut he was in before he left, which wouldn’t be good for anybody. I can’t see him returning under any circumstance; it’s probably best for all parties that he joins Betis on a permanent deal.”