Man Utd ‘offered’ ex-Aston Villa star in ‘swap deal’ as Romano comments on ‘smart move’

According to transfer expert Fabrizio Romano, Manchester United have been ‘offered a swap deal’ to offload £86m flop Antony to Serie A giants Juventus.

25-year-old Antony never came close to living up to expectations after joining the Red Devils for around £86m from Eredivisie giants Ajax in 2022.

Man Utd massively overpaid to sign the Brazil international, who followed Erik ten Hag in joining the Premier League giants from Ajax.

At the time, it was widely reported that the Dutch head coach had lobbied for this transfer, but a recent report claims he actually ‘wanted to stop’ this deal from happening.

Antony barely featured for United at the start of this campaign and joined Real Betis on loan during the winter transfer window.

The winger benefited from this fresh start as he regained his confidence, grabbing nine goals and five assists for the La Liga outfit.

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Real Betis have the option to sign him permanently, but it has been suggested that they are struggling to meet the financial demands of Man Utd and Antony as elite European clubs show interest.

In January, Man Utd would have struggled to attract bids worth around £20m for Antony, but his value has shot up in recent months and it appears he has plenty of options.

Despite returning to form, Antony’s future still lies away from Old Trafford as they hope his exit could raise funds with upgrades required in most positions.

Bayern Munich have been sporadically linked with Antony in recent months, but Romano claims Juventus have also made a move to sign him.

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Romano has informed GiveMeSport that the Serie A giants ‘offered’ former Aston Villa midfielder Douglas Luiz in a ‘swap deal’ for Antony a ‘few weeks agio’ as they felt it would be a ‘smart move’ to sign the Man Utd outcast following his recent resurgence.

Aston Villa cashed in on Luiz during the 2024 summer transfer window as they looked to avoid a breach of the Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability rules.

Luiz was one of Villa’s best players during the 2023/24 campaign, but he has struggled to settle at Juventus and has been heavily linked with a return to the Premier League in recent months.

Romano claims Juventus ‘wanted’ Antony and ‘explored a move’, but the recent exit of sporting director Cristiano Giuntoli has changed their plans.

The report added:

‘Antony is appreciated in Italy and Juventus were prepared to discuss different formulas for this deal to happen, eventually also on a double loan with buy option clauses. Why did it collapse? Because Juventus director Giuntoli left the club a few days ago in a reshape decided by the ownership with new director Damien Comolli now taking care of the operations.

‘The discussion for Antony and Douglas Luiz, at the moment, is not even advancing anymore. Let’s see later in the window if this story can change, but Juventus really considered Antony – now it is up to the new directors.’