Antony blasts Man Utd over Ruben Amorim treatment before exit - 'Lack of respect'

Antony has hit out at the treatment he received after being frozen out by Manchester United, accusing the club of showing a "lack of respect" and "rudeness" in his final days at Old Trafford.

The Brazil winger spent the second half of last season on loan at Real Betis and made no secret of his desire to make a permanent return to the La Liga outfit during the summer. But he had to wait until the final days of the transfer window to get his wish and was effectively exiled by Ruben Amorim in the meantime, being forced to train away from the first-team squad as well as being excluded from the club's pre-season friendlies.

And Antony believes that the club's approach to him and other the players in the United 'bomb squad' who were deemed surplus to requirements, such as Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho, left a lot to be desired.

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"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," Antony told ESPN Brasil when he was asked to reflect on his his final weeks as a Manchester United player. "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.

"Not even that. But, anyway, that's in the past, I won't give much importance to these things. Now I'm here, at Betis, I'm living here, that's the most important thing for me."

Antony followed Erik ten Hag to Old Trafford in the summer of 2022 for a transfer fee that would have surpassed £86million if all the add-ons and bonuses were met. But he failed to replicate the dazzling form he showed in the Eredivisie with Ajax and was sold for a huge loss by United to Betis after weeks of negotiations, eventually moving for just £21.65m.

But while Antony believes there were mitigating factors behind his failure to make it in the Premier League, he takes responsibility for things not working out.

Asked why he believed things did not go well at United, Antony replied: "I am a man who accepts my responsibilities. I think off-field matters affected me a lot, in my performance. I know my potential, I know my qualities, I didn't play in a World Cup for nothing, I didn't return to the national team for nothing.

"I also take responsibility for it not working out, for not performing as I wanted. But I always try to see the bright side of things, going through this entire process, this time at United, was necessary to see myself."

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