Real Betis and Brazil star Antony insisted that there is one thing that he cannot overlook during his “difficult time” at Manchester United after his Old Trafford exit in 2025.
Antony had spent the second half of the 2024-25 campaign out on loan at Real Betis after he was deemed surplus to requirements under Ruben Amorim at the club.
The 26-year-old Brazilian winger was able to revive his career away from Old Trafford and the Manchester United flop impressed during his time at Betis.
Antony made his permanent exit from the Premier League club on deadline day last September after La Liga outfit Betis signed him in a deal worth £21.65m.
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Antony makes a telling admission about his ill-fated spell at Man Utd after his Ajax move
Manchester United dropped an eye-watering initial transfer fee of £81.3m to bring Antony to the Premier League club from Dutch side Ajax in 2022.
Antony was reunited with former Ajax manager Erik ten Hag, but the Brazil international struggled to make a meaningful impact at the Red Devils.
The former Ajax ace only netted 12 times and registered five assists in 96 matches across all competitions for Man Utd before his ill-fated Old Trafford spell ended.
Speaking to the YouTube channel CazeTV, Antony refused to cast only a negative spotlight on his time at United amid the “bad moments” he experienced at the club.
“I’ll mention something that was important to me,” he said.
“I think that difficult time I went through at United was the time I learned the most in my life. And today I feel like a much more mature man, ready for [the] difficulties and adversities that come my way.
“I’m very grateful to the club for everything. There weren’t only bad moments there either.
“I won titles, made great friendships there. I have enormous respect for the club; I went through a difficult time off the field that greatly affected my performance on the pitch.
“And that’s getting into a subject we’ve already talked about, when you’re not doing well, when you’re not happy. It’s very difficult for things to go well.”
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Former Man Utd star Antony owns up to his ‘mistakes’ after receiving a fresh start at Real Betis
Brazil star Antony lifted both the League Cup and FA Cup trophies with Man Utd during his spell at Old Trafford after his big-money move from Ajax.
Antony, who has netted 22 times in 68 matches for Real Betis, says that he also knows that he can’t escape the accountability that he has to put on himself.
“I have responsibility, I’m a man who admits my mistakes too, right? It’s no use always looking at other people,” he said.
“No, I’m not that kind of person. First, I look at myself. When you’re facing a situation and a difficulty, it’s very difficult to see a refuge, to see a way out.
“And now that I’ve been through all of this, I’m very grateful for everything I’ve experienced, because it comes down to me. Having matured, having learned.
“I learned a lot from my mistakes, I learned through pain, and that was very good for me because it could have been worse.
“So, I’m very grateful for everything I went through there. Yes, even now.”
United included a 50 per cent sell-on clause in their deal for Antony and were not required to pay off the player as part of his move to Betis last summer.
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