The Antony effect! Man Utd outcast's extraordinary impact at Real Betis laid bare as loan club heads for Europe

The Brazilian wide man was laughed out of the Premier League and labelled as the worst signing of all time before joining the Spanish club. In Andalusia, he has shown that maybe he was never the problem all along - scoring five goals and registering two assists in 17 La Liga appearances. The true scale of Antony's impact on Betis can be shown plainly by studying the league table before and after he joined. As per TNT Sports, only Barcelona (43) and Villarreal (33) have picked up more points than Betis' 33 points in those 17 games. Antony has loved his time in La Liga.

Posting on Instagram, Antony said: "What an honour to compete in this season of La Liga. A competition I have always loved since I was a kid. Thank you very much everyone for the encouragement and unconditional support. We keep moving forward, we still have a goal to meet! Mucho Betis."

Antony joined United for £85 million ($109m) ahead of the 2022-23 season and when he scored on his debut against Arsenal, the Old Trafford crowd may have been already crowning him as their right-sided forward for the next decade. The United boss at the time, Erik ten Hag, had worked with the Brazilian at Ajax and stealing him away from the Dutch club was considered one of the summer's marquee signings. After eight goals in his debut season and just three more in his second campaign, Antony's career was beginning to spiral and he appeared to have no future at United - at least until this Betis spell.

While Antony has been a star in La Liga, his most impressive performances for Betis have actually come in the Conference League. In eight games, he has contributed four goals and three assists to help power the Spanish club to the final. The Brazilian has shown United some of the firepower that their European title charge was lacking.

After securing Europa League football for next season already, Betis can play the Europa Conference League final with little pressure. Antony will also have a chance to demonstrate to yet more English fans and media how they were wrong to write him off so soon. Betis take on Chelsea in Poland on Wednesday.