Antony continued his fine form for Real Betis on Sunday by helping the Spanish side triumph 2-1 over bitter rivals Sevilla – and his performance prompted team-mate Isco to joke about signing the Manchester United outcast permanently.
The Brazilian has been hugely impressive for Betis since joining on loan from Manchester United in January, setting his career alight again after a dismal period at Old Trafford following his £86m move from Ajax in 2022.
The winger has scored four goals and provided four assists in 12 appearances for Betis so far since his loan move to the Seville club.
As reported by Fabrizio Romano, Isco lauded the star’s performance after the game and said: ‘We will now need to do crowdfunding to bring Antony in!’
Antony joined United during Erik ten Hag’s tenure at the club but struggled for consistency in front of goal, falling short of confidence before dropping out of the side altogether.
In total, he managed just 12 goals in 96 appearances for United.
Isco (R) joked that Real Betis will need crowdfunding if they are to sign Antony (L) permanently
Antony has scored four goals and provided four assists since joining Betis on loan
The winger endured a difficult time at Manchester United but is now playing with confidence
After finding himself on the fringes under new manager Ruben Amorim, the Brazilian was allowed to depart on a temporary basis.
It remains to be seen what will happen with Antony at the end of the season, with Manchester United set to decide on a host of out-of-favour loan stars including Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford, who has recently enjoyed a resurgence of his own at Aston Villa.
Although he has two years remaining on his contract at United, it seems somewhat unlikely that Antony will remain at Old Trafford.
During his time at Betis so far, Antony has demonstrated that he is still capable of making an impact at a high level, although United will likely be eager to fetch back a hefty proportion of the £86m they parted with to sign him just three years ago.
Betis are currently in sixth place in LaLiga and have won their last six league games.
They found themselves behind in the 17th minute against archrivals Sevilla on Sunday after Ruben Vargas slotted the visitors ahead with a smart finish.
But goals from Johnny Cardoso and Cucho Hernandez turned the match on its head before the half-time break, and Real Betis were able to hold on to claim a triumphant 2-1 derby victory.
Betis are also still active in the Europa Conference League and will take on Jagiellonia Bialystok in the quarter-finals on Thursday April 10.
