Antony revealed that one Manchester United teammate pleaded with him to stay at the club before he completed his deadline-day transfer to Real Betis.
Antony, who United signed from Ajax for £82m in 2022, was frozen out of Ruben Amorim’s first-team squad and spent the second half of last season on loan at Betis.
And despite an impressive return with the Spanish side, Antony was told he still had no future at Old Trafford, spending the summer living in a hotel and training away from his teammates.
But despite the club and the player’s desire for a fresh start, Antony was made to wait until deadline day in order to complete a £21.65 million permanent move back to the Spanish club.
Speaking about his difficult final chapter in England, the Brazilian namechecked Matheus Cunha, who joined United that summer from Wolves, as a helpful friend during the trying few months.
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And Antony said that his fellow countryman Cunha even tried, in vain, to convince the winger to stay on at United before his departure.
‘I didn’t work for anyone there, only for myself,’ he told Spanish publication AS when asked about his summer.
‘I was with my dad and I had friends too, like Matheus Cunha who is playing there. Now I feel much stronger, there are things that remain in the past.
‘Matheus Cunha wanted me to play there with him, but the situation was already very difficult. I am very fond of him.’
Antony also lifted a lid on his strained relationship with Amorim, saying: ‘I didn’t talk much with Rúben Amorim, there wasn’t much contact.
‘That’s his decision for me to train separately. But it had to be respected.
‘It was very hard, but when I go through things like that in life I always remember the most difficult things I went through in the favela, for example.
‘You have to be persistent, I was doing my job to prepare for this moment.’
Antony is yet to register a goal contribution in La Liga since his return to Betis, although he did score and assist when the Spanish side drew 2-2 with Nottingham Forest in last month’s Europa League clash.
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