Man Utd in dreamland as HUGE offer arrives with 'new destination' likely and Betis blown away

Atletico Madrid have thundered right to the front of the queue in the race to sign Antony on a permanent deal from Manchester United this summer after reports in the Spanish media detailed the huge price they are willing to pay for the Real Betis loanee.

The Brazilian badly failed to live up to expectations at Old Trafford after former boss Erik ten Hag convinced the Manchester United board to splurge an eye-watering fee, which would eventually top £86m (€100m, $111m) to bring the player with him from Ajax in summer 2022. And having registered a paltry 12 goals and five assists from 96 appearances for the Red Devils – an output of one G/A every 5.64 games – it came as no surprise when he was allowed to leave in the January transfer window.

Having agreed to let the player join Real Betis without a fee, but in an arrangement that saw the LaLiga side cover a hefty 84% of the player’s £200,000 a week salary, United will have had pretty good reason to feel happy at the arrangement, and with the move designed to help the player kickstart his career.

Having moved to Andalusia, Antony has done exactly that, and his impressive record of eight goal contributions (four goals and four assists) from 13 appearances so far has reawoken the player from his slumbers and underlined his actual capabilities.

As a result, hopes have grown that a permanent move away from Old Trafford could be on the cards this summer and now reports in Spain claim that Atleti have moved to get ahead of the competition by lodging a huge bid.

And according to Fichajes, they claim that Diego Simeone’s side has launched a staggering ‘offer worth up to £64m with add-ons’ and that the LaLiga giants are now ‘leading’ the race to sign him.

It is suggested that Atletico Madrid’s proposal is ‘€45m (£38m) fixed, with a further €30m (£26m) in variables’.

And while no other source has verified the claims, the prospect of claiming such a hefty sum back for their winger will have the club’s moneymen in dreamland and potentially gifting Ruben Amorim a hefty financial lift in his plans to rebuild his Manchester United squad.

MORE ON ANTONY 🟢⚪ How Antony went from Man Utd flop to ‘top class’ LaLiga star at Real Betis

Pellegrini likes what he sees – but Antony deal is beyond Betis

News of a potential approach from Atletico Madrid will come as a huge blow for Real Betis, whose fans and players have quickly taken the Brazilian to their hearts.

And with one of Betis’ other big stars, former Real Madrid star Isco, recently suggesting the club should crowd-fund to help fund his permanent signing this summer, the 16-times capped winger has certainly found himself again in Spain.

Now the manager who has given his career the kiss of life, Manuel Pellegrini, has talked up the player’s outstanding talents and having also suggested he can now understand exactly why the Red Devils shelled out such a huge fee in the first place.

“He is a very special player, it is not a coincidence when €100m (£86m) are paid for a player. He arrived with the conviction that he had to mature,” Pellegrini told Cadena Ser.

“He has more than enough conditions; more than demonstrating his ability, he is demonstrating his functionality and his capacity to be a practical player.

“Now he is more focused on finishing the play, on taking crosses… He is showing a lot of humility and accepting the challenge of evolving in his career because he is still very young.”

Sadly for them, a permanent deal looks well beyond them, with the asking price likely far too high and despite Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s willingness to let the player depart permanently.

To put into some context, Betis’ current transfer record stands at the €30m shelled out for another Brazilian winger, Denilson – that deal going through way back in 1998!

Since then, they have only spent more than €20m on two players – Borja Ingelsias from Espanyol in 2019 and Giovani Lo Celso from PSG the same year.

All the same, Antony is enjoying his football again in Spain, having admitted the move to the south of Spain has helped him regain his confidence.

“I am very happy here, but I do not know what will happen in the future,” he said. “I always say that I enjoy every day, with the club, the city, everything, and I give my best for the team. It is still too early to talk about my future.”

Antony also said: “I think that to regain my confidence, the most important thing was to reconnect with myself. I found that here, and that’s why I’m very happy and more confident every day.”

Man Utd transfer latest: Huge Osimhen deal ON; Raphinha hopes raised

One winger linked with a move to United, and potentially in place of Antony, is Barcelona superstar Raphinha.

And while the LaLiga giants’ enormous €100m valuation would surely rule United out the race, the prospect of him departing this summer has accelerated off the back of an angry exchange with two Barcelona colleagues following their frustrating 1-1 draw against Betis on Saturday evening.

Elsewhere, United have made their intentions to sign Victor Osimhen clear this summer, per a journalist, who has named the three clubs they will have to battle for his signature and also having unearthed the truths over claims that a huge offer has already been launched.

While the Galatasaray loanee would certainly be a costly signing, United are also reported to be tracking a lesser-known striker, who is currently pulling up trees in Serie A for Udinese.

Standing a whopping 6ft 7in tall, the signing of the Italy international would certainly add another new dimension to Amorim’s attack.

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