From crowdfunding to kidnapping! Why Real Betis are so desperate to hold onto Man Utd outcast Antony

Antony grew up in a favela in Brazil. He lived in poverty and was surrounded by violence. Football, though, offered an escape from the grim reality of daily life.

"I would elastico the drug dealers. Nutmeg the thieves. I really did not give a f*ck," he told The Players' Tribune. "With a ball at my feet, I had no fear."

Antony's upbringing sustained him through difficult times in his career. What he experienced at United was something different, though. Despite a promising start featuring three goals in his first three Premier League games, Antony struggled terribly to justify his £82 million ($111m) fee during his first season in England. Then, at the start of his second, he was accused of assault by three women, including an ex-girlfriend. No charges were ever brought against Antony but he said that his form was affected by the investigation, which concluded last August.

He also insisted that he had "learnt from it all" and that his third year at Old Trafford would be "totally different" to the previous two. "I've grown and matured," he told The Athletic.

However, by the middle of the 2024-25 campaign, it was clear that Antony's confidence was shot. During his childhood, there were times when he went hungry. But during his darkest days in Manchester, he couldn't even bring himself to eat. Or play with his son. Or even just leave his room.

"I even told my brother that I couldn't take it anymore," Antony revealed in an interview with TNT Sports Brasil. "But he told me to hold on a little longer, that things were going to change." And they have at Betis.

There was very little interest in Antony's services during the January transfer window. Even Erik ten Hag, the coach who had helped turn him into a star at Ajax before bringing him with him to United, had lost faith in the winger before his own Old Trafford exit at the end of November.

Ten Hag's successor, Ruben Amorim, occasionally used him him a substitute during his first few months in charge, but it was clear that he didn't want Antony at all.

Betis did, though. Sporting director Manu Fajardo was in no doubt that Antony could get back to something resembling his best form in Andalusia. The only issue was the money.

Betis were not in a position to sign Antony on a permanent basis. Nor could they afford his salary. However, they managed to convince United to cover a significant chunk of his wages for the duration of a six-month stay at the Benito Villamarin. It's proven a masterstroke, with arguably the worst signing in United's history becoming one of the great January deals.

After impressing on his Betis debut on February 2, against Athletic Club, Antony opened his account for his new club just six days later. He struck again in the midweek win over Gent in the Conference League before making it three goals in a week with a beautiful volley against Real Sociedad. He's not really looked back since.

Going into Wednesday's Conference League final against Chelsea, Antony has been directly involved in 14 goals in all competitions - that's more than fellow wingers Khvicha Kvartskhelia and Vinicius Jr, as well as world-class strikers such as Robert Lewandowski, Alexander Isak and Erling Haaland in the same time period.

Unsurprisingly, Antony feels that joining Betis is the best decision he's ever made. "I am enjoying the city, the club and [Seville] reminds me of a lot of things from Brazil, particularly the sun and the food," he told reporters. "But the people are also very warm."

Perhaps more importantly than anything else, though, he's now working under a coach who has somehow managed to get Antony to cut out all of the superfluous tricks and flicks that so frustrated the fans at Old Trafford.

"I'm not going to analyse Antony's previous time at Manchester United, but more than demonstrating his ability, I think he's proving that he can be a practical player," Manuel Pellegrini told El Larguero. "Doing two or three important things in a match shows what a good player he is rather than trying to do strange things with the ball. He's more focused on finishing plays well, making good crosses, looking for shots on goal, and also being very involved in the team's collective functioning."

The question now, of course, is what happens next?

Even if Antony wanted to return to Manchester (and there's absolutely no indication that he does), Amorim has already deemed him surplus to requirements and even publicly questioned whether the forward has the requisite mental and physical strength to ever thrive in the Premier League.

Antony certainly seems more suited to the Spanish game and Betis would dearly love to hold onto him. After scoring one goal and creating another in the 2-2 draw at Fiorentina on May 8 that saw the club progress to a first European final, Betis fans pleaded with Antony to stay beyond the summer.

Veteran midfielder Isco, who has praised Antony's "brutal talent" and "humility", joked about setting up a "crowdfund to see if we can bring him back for another year", while club legend Joaquin quipped, "I'll provide the car if he has to be kidnapped!"

Unfortunately for Betis, the financial reality of the situation is that they still can't afford Antony - particularly as his value has only risen over the past few months. Indeed, while his resurrection reflects horribly on the culture and climate at Old Trafford - just like those of Gomes, Elanga and McTominay - Antony's resurgence is undeniably good news for cash-strapped United, as he's now being courted by elite European clubs such as Juventus and Atletico Madrid.

Antony is understandably reluctant to look too far ahead. For starters, Betis "still have a goal to meet" in Wroclaw on Wednesday. More importantly, though, Antony knows better than anyone else how quickly things change, both in football, and in life.