Antony sends 14-word message after Man Utd transfer saga takes new twist

Antony appeared to send a message to Manchester United as uncertainty surrounding a potential move to Real Betis continues.

Antony, 25, spent the second half of the 2024/25 campaign on loan at Betis, where he saw an improvement in his form, contributing nine goals and five assists in 26 appearances for the La Liga outfit.

The Brazil international helped Betis reach the Conference League final, which they lost against Chelsea, and appeared to be loving life in Andalusia.

The winger claimed that he had fallen out of love with football during his difficult spell at United in an interview with TNT Sports Brazil.

"It was a moment when I thought about stopping playing,” Antony said.

“I no longer felt that desire to play football because of everything I was going through, because of all the accusations and because I had remained silent for so long.”

Antony enjoyed his loan at Real Betis (Credit:Getty)

He added: “I went through difficult times (at United) when I no longer felt that pleasure. I even told my brother that I couldn’t take it any more.”

He then went on to explain how joining Betis on loan “has changed a lot”.

At the end of the season, Antony returned to United but was among the players told to train separately from the first team with Tyrell Malacia, Marcus Rashford, Alejandro Garnacho and Jadon Sancho.

A return to Betis was reportedly close on Friday (August 29), but confusion surrounds the proposed switch.

According to BBC Sport, United sources said they had accepted a bid from the Spanish club only for Betis to later release a formal statement in which they claimed the offer had been withdrawn.

In a statement, the club wrote: "Betis has retired its offer. Betis cannot afford a transfer fee, nor the amounts the player is supposed to receive."

BBC Sport’s report claims that “there are unverified suggestions one of the stumbling blocks relates to a payment to Antony around his outstanding wages on a United contract that runs to 2027”.

It is still unclear whether the situation will be resolved by the September 1^st deadline. The English transfer window closes at 7 pm, while the Spanish one remains open until 10:59 pm.

Antony remained tight-lipped on the situation until yesterday when he posted a message to his Instagram story.

Antony posted to his Instagram story (Credit:Antony/IG)

Alongside a photograph of himself with a group of men, the Brazilian wrote: “Entre Familia e amigos, a vida sempre nos reserva uma grande surpresa,” which translated from Portuguese to English means “Between family and friends, life always has a big surprise in store for us”