Key Points
Antony struggles at Manchester United despite 95M Euro transfer
Loan move to Real Betis proves promising
Agent disputes physicality criticism
Player shows improvement in Spanish league
' Junior Pedroso, the agent of the Brazilian player known as Antony Matheus dos Santos, claims Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim's comments, blaming Antony's physical inadequacy for not faring well during his time in England, do not 'reflect reality'.
"We respect the opinion of coach Ruben Amorim, but we completely disagree with his analysis. To attribute Antony's lack of success at United solely to physicality is a very superficial argument and does not reflect reality," said Pedroso to Spanish outlet Marca.
The 24-year-old Antony, who is 1.74 m (5 ft 9 in) in stature, joined Manchester United in 2022 from Dutch giants Ajax for a whopping fee of 95 million Euros but failed to make any significant impact at the club. In his 96 appearances for the Red Devils, Antony only managed to find the back of the net on 12 occasions. His underwhelming output saw him leave the club on a loan deal in the January transfer window, which will come to an end in June.
"When you play against any team in England, the physicality is there. If you don't have physicality, you will struggle a lot. Antony is so much better now in Spain. It's [because of] a lot of factors, but I guarantee you it's physicality," Amorim said to TNT Sports.
Betis were able to secure Antony on loan after agreeing to cover a majority of his salary and will hope to sign him on a permanent transfer at the end of his loan period at the club, which provides the Red Devils with an opportunity to secure a part of the massive fee they paid for the trickster.
