Man Utd boss Ruben Amorim has been told that he allowed a “brutal talent” to leave Old Trafford when Antony joined Real Betis on loan in January.
Antony, who signed from Ajax for £85m in 2022, played 407 minutes in all competitions this season over 14 appearances, three of which were in the starting XI.
His time in the team slightly improved following the arrival of Amorim as manager but the new Man Utd head coach didn’t stand in the way of his exit from Old Trafford.
Antony eventually sealed a loan move away from Man Utd in January with the Red Devils allowing him to complete a temporary move to Spanish side Real Betis.
The Brazilian was MVP on his debut for Betis in the 2-2 draw with Athletic Bilbao and was once again picked out as the top performer in his new club’s 3-2 defeat to Celta Vigo shortly after.
Antony has contributed two goals and two assists in four La Liga matches for Real Betis overall and team-mate Isco has been impressed by his adaptation, despite being sent off for a late lunge against Getafe on Sunday.
Isco told RTV Betis: “It’s very easy to play with him. He’s got a brutal talent.
“You have to put your talent at the service of the team. Let’s see if we can take that step forward to reach Europe.
“Let’s see if Antony’s expulsion can be reviewed. Hopefully we can appeal and they don’t sanction him. We’ll see.”
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Antony will now miss Real Betis’ clash against La Liga leaders Real Madrid next weekend and Manuel Pellegrini insists the sending off must be a “learning experience” for the Brazilian.
Pellegrini said: “I can’t tell you about the sending off as I did not see it.
“But it is a pity we won’t have him in the next game. He is bringing us a lot, we’ll miss him in the next game, this will be a learning experience for him.”
When asked how Antony has left misery at Man Utd behind at Real Betis, Pellegrini added: “The most important thing has been his attitude and his self-criticism.
“If they paid that much for him it is because he is a player of a great level, who for reasons that I do not know could not perform as expected at Manchester United.
“I have spoken a lot with him to keep him calm, without wanting to show great things , but to keep it simple.
“He is a great player who does important things for the team and I hope he continues at that level until the end of the season because he will help us a lot.”
