Antony is destined to go down as one of the biggest flops in Manchester United history, but the Brazil international winger is rebuilding his career in spectacular style with Real Betis.

Signed by Erik ten Hag for €95 million in the summer of 2022, the deal that took Antony to Old Trafford immediately caught the eye for its sheer size. He became United’s second most expensive signing ever behind only Paul Pogba.

But Antony never lived up to that billing and was ultimately sold to Real Betis in 2025 for just €22m. For a player whose Estimated Transfer Value (ETV) at the time was around €40m, this was a huge discount and one that Real Betis have taken advantage of.

The move to Spain, which initially was on a loan basis in January 2025, has suited the 26-year-old, who is under contract until January 2030.

He has won the trust of manager Manuel Pellegrini and rewarded that faith with 14 goals and 10 assists in his first full season in Seville, playing a key role as the Andalusians booked a place in the Champions League.

It is in that competition he will return to the Netherlands to face Feyenoord, seeking his first goal of the season.

But while he awaits his first strike of 2026/27, he has established himself as La Liga’s best winger behind only Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal.

Antony impressing with Betis, despite goal drought

Antony has not necessarily proven his worth to Real Betis in front of goal this season yet. He has recorded one assist in 720 minutes, spread across 10 matches for the Spaniards.

However, a deeper dive into Antony's statistics reveals that he is valuable to Real Betis in other aspects. For instance, he is above average with dribbling and overlapping runs, while his passing accuracy forward is also better than the average winger in La Liga.

The same applies to his crosses, and Antony takes shots at goal from inside the opposition box more often than average. As a result, he has a high expected goals (xG) value, and it seems only a matter of time before he finds the net.

According to data analytics experts SciSports, Antony is also adding value to Real Betis in La Liga. Its data shows that only Lamine Yamal is outperforming him so far this season.

This has everything to do with the quality of the passes, crosses, and shots Antony delivers, and how these contribute to generating xG for Real Betis.

Man Utd should harbour regrets

Was Antony misused at Man Utd, was he not good enough or could he simply not adapt? According to the player, he was not treated fairly at the club.

Speaking to ESPN Brasil last year, he said: “Look, I'm not the kind of guy who gets involved in controversies, who names people, in fact, I won't mention anyone's name here.

“But I think there was a bit of a lack of respect there, even a bit of rudeness too, with no one giving you a good morning, a good afternoon.”

The exact reasons for his failure to impose himself are unclear, but what is obvious is that United never saw the best of Antony.

Just as the Red Devils have been left to lament the success of Scott McTominay, who scored two for Napoli against Bodo/Glimt on Tuesday, they could well grow to regret their sale of Antony – particularly at a €20m discount.