Real Betis are “cautiously optimistic” of keeping hold of Manchester United loanee Antony beyond the end of the season, according to the club’s CEO.
The Brazilian winger has been in scintillating form in La Liga, where he arrived in January after an awful first half of the season at Old Trafford.
Antony’s four goals and four assists in 13 games for the Andalusian side has made him a key figure in manager Manuel Pellegrini’s team.
But with no option to make the loan deal permanent the 25-year-old will be heading back to Manchester at the end of the season, although it is generally felt this would only be a stop on his way to another club.
Speaking to Canal Sur, via ESPN, Betis CEO Ramon Alarcon addressed the financial difficulties involved in keeping hold of the player.
“It’s going to be difficult because he is a player owned by Manchester with financial conditions that are what they are,” he said.
Specifically, those conditions relate to the Red Devils needing to recoup as much of the £85m they paid for him in 2022 as possible, and him being under contract until June 2027 on big-money wages.
Nevertheless, Alarcon added that he is “cautiously optimistic” about finding a solution which sees the Brazilian at the Villamarin Stadium next season. He pointed to the rampaging success of the loan so far, and its benefits for both club and player.
He explained: “It’s because both Manchester United and the player have seen that Real Betis is a great place for the player to develop. Right now I’m more optimistic than in January.”
United will doubtless be looking to secure a permanent sale in order to bank a fee for the player they can reinvest in a squad rebuild for Ruben Amorim.
But Betis would find it much easier to accommodate a second loan, and Alarcon thinks that would still work well for the Red Devils.
He said: “There is a World Cup in 2026, the player wants to play to go to the World Cup and Manchester want the player’s value to increase.”
His value now will be much higher than it was several months ago, but United will probably look to strike while the iron is hot and sell the player in the summer rather than gamble on the Brazilian featuring at the World Cup.
He hasn’t played for Brazil since 2023, and has two goals in 16 appearances for his nation.
Featured image Fran Santiago via Getty Images
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Joe Ponting Joe has spent more than half his life writing about football and all of it following United. As a child he told a doctor his name was ‘Paul Scholes’, but could never pick a pass like him no matter how much he tried.
