Antony Hints At United Stay After Ten Hag Comments

Antony is back in Manchester – while United’s squad has jetted off to the USA for their pre-season tour. The Brazilian, 25, who spent the second half of last season on loan at Real Betis, is one of five Manchester United players to have informed the club of his desire to explore different opportunities this summer.

The former Ajax man scored nine goals and provided five assists in 26 appearances during a successful loan spell at Betis and the La Liga side want to re-sign him. However, Manuel Pellegrini’s side face competition from Atletico Madrid, who have emerged as the favourites to secure his signature.

Reports have claimed that Atletico have moved to the front of the queue and United will let Antony leave if any club matches their valuation of the player, which is in excess of £30million. Erik ten Hag’s Bayer Leverkusen are among the others that have been linked with a move for the Selecao star.

But Ten Hag appeared to rule out a reunion this summer. Speaking to German publication Bild, as quoted by Sports Mole, Ten Hag said: “He has great quality. I signed him twice.

“He was like a son to me, he still is a son to me. We’re not interested in him at the moment, but we’ll see what happens in the future.”

While rumours have increased around Antony’s future, he posted a picture on Instagram on Tuesday showing that he is back in Manchester. The United forward put up an image of him in a LeBron James basketball shirt on Instagram, showing the location and the fact he has arrived back in Manchester.

Antony, who returned to the Brazil squad last month for Carlo Ancelotti’s first camp, spent most of June in Sao Paolo and appeared to enjoy some time on holiday following another long season.

But as the month progressed, Antony started to post videos of him training in the gym and back on the grass, aiming to keep sharp and continue the form he showed at the back end of last campaign.

United returned to pre-season training at the start of July but Antony, along with Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho, Alejandro Garnacho and Tyrell Malacia, have not been spotted with the rest of the squad.

Indeed, Antony, Rashford, Sancho, Garnacho and Malacia have not travelled to the United States for United’s pre-season tour. None of the five featured against Leeds United on Saturday and are expected to leave.

Antony joined United from Ajax for £82m in August 2022 and he made an instant impact, scoring on his debut against Arsenal. His first season at Old Trafford wasn’t a disaster, netting 10 times and adding five assists in 40 appearances, as the Reds won the Carabao Cup and finished third in the Premier League.

However, that is as good as it has got for Antony at United. In fact, he has since scored just twice in 56 matches for the Reds, registering zero assists in that period.

His loan, therefore, to Betis was much-needed and he showed what he is all about in Seville, helping them reach the Conference League final.

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