Manchester United left it late to complete the sale of Antony, whose time at Old Trafford finally came to an end on deadline day.
After a summer-long saga the Brazilian finally got his fairytale ending with a return to Real Betis, where he dazzled on loan for the second half of last season.
A difficult deal
Both the La Liga side and the 25-year-old winger were determined to get the deal over the line, but it was always going to be complicated given the finances required.
United resisted Betis’ attempts to secure the player on another loan, meaning the transfer went down to the wire as they tried to recoup as much as possible from the £80m they spent on him.
For his part, Antony made it difficult for the Red Devils by rebuffing interest from several other clubs including a late enquiry from Bayern Munich.
In the end all parties reached an agreement, with Betis paying €25m with a 50% sell-on clause which could pay dividends for United in the future.
High pressure
Earlier this month Betis sporting director Manu Fajardo called the signing the most stressful of his career, and the club’s CEO Ramon Alarcon has now echoed those sentiments.
Speaking to El Chiringuito, via ABC Sevilla, he explained that “there was a moment when we saw it was lost because United’s position was difficult.
“We had a difference of €5-6m and had already reached our limit. In the end, we all made an effort, we did our part, and so did the player and United.”
Alarcon summed up the transfer: “It’s the most difficult signing I’ve made as CEO because there was a lot of pressure from all the Betis fans. It was taken for granted that he was coming; everyone was asking when he was coming.”
How the deal was done
He gave an eye-opening account of the final hours of the deal, talking about the tension in the air.
“On Sunday, during the match against Athletic, the relationship was very tense,” he said. “Around noon, United sent the draft contract and asked us to make the changes. It was clear that they were going to comply with our requests.
“In the early hours of Sunday morning, at 2:00 a.m., we received confirmation. In the morning, we closed the accounting for Antony’s future capital gains because we wanted to have the ability to recover the investment. It was one of the most problematic points, but we resolved it.
“Sunday at 2:00 a.m. is when the situation was unblocked, and we started looking for a plane so he could come on Monday afternoon.
“There was still a bit of stress because everything was agreed upon, but we had to wait for the Manchester United owners in the United States to sign, and they did so at 3:00 p.m. on Monday.”
Desperate measures
All summer long it seemed that Betis simply didn’t have the finances to sign their number one target.
Ultimately Antony settled for a substantial wage cut and United relented on the fee in exchange for the high sell-on clause.
The Seville side still had to get creative to raise the necessary funds, though, and turned to their kit makers, Hummel, for help. Alarcon explained: “We’ve launched a clothing line with Antony, we’re participating with him through royalties, and he’ll also have some non-sporting income from that merchandising.
“If he ends up being the world star he has been, we at Betis hope to recover the investment and even what it cost us the previous year. It carries a certain risk because this is locked in for five years and at a high cost, but you can potentially reap benefits.”
Featured image Fran Santiago via Getty Images
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Joe Ponting
Joe has spent more than half his life writing about football and all of it following United. As a child he told a doctor his name was ‘Paul Scholes’, but could never pick a pass like him no matter how much he tried.
