The Brazilian, unfazed despite the pressure, has once again closed all doors to the Red Devils with 11 days left until the end of the transfer market in order to force him to negotiate and accept Betis' proposals.
The desire to have Antony back this season once his loan is over required a series of circumstances to occur this summer that usually don't occur, especially that a player of the Brazilian's stature resist pressure from a powerful club like Manchester United to return to a team where he has spent six months.
However, three months have passed, and the roadmap outlined by Betis, aware from the outset that this matter wouldn't be resolved until the end of the summer, continues on course thanks to the São Paulo native's imperturbable desire to wear the green and white shirt again. Thus, none of the pressure measures the Mancunians have applied, such as removing him from the preseason group or threatening to keep him in the stands, have undermined his firm intention, and he has rejected all the proposals put on the table, which did come close to the financial demands established at Old Trafford, around €40 million.
And the footballer, once again, with less than two weeks to go until the market closes, has closed all possible doors to Manchester and has offered them only one way out, both insofar as he has made it clear once again that he only wants to go to Betis and that he is willing to wait until the last day of the transfer window to wear the number 7 shirt that Betis has reserved for him in the hope that the operation will go through.
This recent communication from the player's agents, the latest of several this summer, reduces Manchester United's room for maneuver to a minimum, as they are forced to negotiate with the Verdiblancos based on the much-vaunted proposals they have put on the table: a new loan with a larger contribution to his salary or a 50% buyout for around €20 million. This would mean both clubs would share ownership, although the sporting control would fall to Betis.
The other option left for Manchester United is to try to get the most out of him on the pitch, but, for now, Rúben Amorim hasn't even called him up for the league opener against Arsenal, which ended in a defeat. So now everything depends on the decision made at Old Trafford, with the cards already stacked heavily in favor of the Heliopolitans. In this regard, it's worth noting that Antony's attitude has created a hostile environment among English fans, as reflected in recent days on social media, so this desperate course of action doesn't seem sustainable.