'The doors are open' – Ex-Liverpool man urges Man Utd forward to join him in Spain

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Former Liverpool goalkeeper Adrian says the ‘doors are open’ for Antony to join him at Real Betis.

Antony has failed to live up to his eye-watering £82million price tag at United and the 24-year-old is actively seeking an escape route out of Old Trafford in search of regular playing time this January.

Across his two-and-a-half year stay in the north west, Antony has managed just five goals in the Premier League and Ruben Amorim is yet to be won over by the misfiring Brazil international.

Olympiacos were heavily linked with Antony at the start of the window but the ex-Ajax man made it clear he had no interest in the proposed move, forcing the Greek giants to look elsewhere for attacking reinforcements.

Real Betis have since emerged as the clear frontrunners for Antony’s signature and are closing in on a deal to take the forward on loan for the second half of the 2024/25 campaign.

The final details are being negotiated by the relevant parties and reports in Spain suggest the winger will join his agent in Seville in the coming days. It remains to be seen if he will feature in United’s Europa League clash with Rangers this evening.

It’s understood the Red Devils have agreed to cover a large portion of Antony’s salary at the Estadio Benito Villamarin.

‘If the move ends up happening he will be come to help the team and show the best version of himself,’ Betis ‘keeper Adrian, formerly of Liverpool, told Marca when asked about the speculation surrounding Antony.

‘The doors are open to him and we will be here to help him all the time.

‘There is no doubt that he can contribute with the magic that he has. We saw this version of him when he was playing for Ajax.’

Adrian is confident Antony has the ability and attitude to turn his fortunes around in La Liga.

‘He is a forward-thinking player who can dribble, who can shoot, who is brave, who is tenacious,’ the Spaniard added.

‘Hopefully the deal can be done.’

Antony’s current contract at the Theatre of Dreams runs through to the summer of 2027.

Before the January transfer window opened for business, Antony's representative Junior Pedroso stressed that while there was interest in the Brazilian, United had not given any indication that they wished to offload his client.

'Yes, many clubs have approached us for Antony's move in January,' Junior Pedroso told GiveMeSport.

'These clubs wanted to understand the situation for Antony, so I can confirm that there's concrete interest.'

He added: 'To be fair, Manchester United have never expressed any interest to sell or loan out Antony to us.

'We never received this sort of communication so far. Manchester United's management never told us that they want Antony to leave, despite the reports we see around about our client.

'I can say that Antony's future is very much tied to Manchester United's interests.

'If the club thinks it would be a good idea to loan Antony out in January so he can get more minutes and regain his trust, we will work together on that option.

'Otherwise, Antony is working hard to regain his place and show his best skills under the new coach Ruben Amorim.'

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