Antony completes permanent move from United to Betis on deadline day

Antony, the 25 year old Brazil international, completed a permanent move from Manchester United to Real Betis on deadline day after a tumultuous summer in which he was isolated from United’s first team, trained separately and lived in a hotel while waiting for the transfer to be finalised. The winger, who spent the second half of last season on loan at Betis, said he chose the Spanish club in part for his family’s happiness and because he felt close to an agreement there.

Antony’s time at United never matched the expectations that came with his roughly £85 million signing from Ajax in 2022. He made 92 appearances for the club and scored 12 goals, but United agreed to sell him for a fee reported to be about £21.6 million, a transaction that represented a loss of more than £60 million on the original outlay. The player said the summer wait ended only at the deadline, after which he returned to the side that revitalised him during his loan spell.

In interviews, Antony described strains in his last months at Old Trafford. He said he had limited contact with new manager Ruben Amorim and that club figures had shown a lack of basic courtesies, comments he framed as part of a difficult...