According to reports, Manchester United want €50million for Antony, who is currently on loan at La Liga club Real Betis.
Man United left it late in the 2022 summer transfer window to sign Antony from Ajax, which forced them to pay over market value.
He was reportedly available for around €45m earlier in the window but the Red Devils ended up paying €95m (£80m).
Ajax’s stance changed due to how little time was left for them to sign a replacement and because they had already sold several key players that summer.
They lost their manager, Erik ten Hag, to United as well and the Dutchman brought Lisandro Martinez and Antony with him, while also being linked with Jurrien Timber and ex-Ajax player Frenkie de Jong.
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Ten Hag signed several players with Eredivisie experience and loved a player he formerly managed, such as Sofyan Amrabat and Andre Onana, who joined last season.
Back to Antony and the 25-year-old has gone down as a gargantuan flop at United.
Having cost the club £80m, the Brazilian winger only managed 12 goals and five assists in 96 appearances before joining Real Betis on loan in January.
He recorded more yellow cards (14) than goals or assists and did not make up for his lack of goal involvements with his overall play or effort.
Despite this, he has started well in Spain, scoring three and assisting two in his first six appearances under Manuel Pellegrini.
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We will conveniently ignore the red card he received in his last game as it has been overturned after an appeal.
Things are looking up for Antony at his new club, with the loan agreement working out well for him, Betis and United.
Ruben Amorim’s side are reportedly looking to take advantage of Antony’s form by putting his asking price up to €50m (£41.2m), which is half what they paid to sign him from Ajax.
This is according to Italian outlet TuttoMercatoWeb (via Estadio Deportivo), where it is claimed the club’s ambitious asking price is ‘unattainable for Betis and many other suitors’.
Basically, the only clubs able to meet United’s demands are those who won’t go anywhere near Antony.
The Red Devils would be willing to include a player in any deal involving Antony in order to reduce the price, it is claimed.
Betis would like to keep Antony but ‘it is impossible unless the stars align’.
Antony joined on loan without an option to buy and United are aware ‘they will not recover’ the £80m they invested in 2022 but want at least 50 per cent of that fee, which is ‘an unattainable figure for Betis and many other European clubs’.
His performances in Spain are ‘revaluing’ him after it was believed United were willing to sell for around £15-20m in the winter transfer window.
As well as the £41m asking price, Antony earns £11.5m a year, which makes him even more unattainable for Betis and ‘only suitable for the most powerful clubs in Europe’.
The only way the Spanish club will be able to sign the ex-Ajax man is if they match his wage demands or Man United lower their asking price.
Another club mentioned in the report is Juventus, which would likely see a player involved in a swap deal, with the Red Devils interested in Dusan Vlahovic.
A new striker is expected to be signed this summer if Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s side can afford to do so, which makes the sale of Antony crucial.
Unfortunately for Betis, ‘all this makes it almost impossible’ to keep Antony and will hope United get desperate at the end of the 2025 summer window and accept a lower fee or let him leave on loan again.
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