Erik ten Hag has started to smile again. After his hasty exit from Old Trafford in October 2024, the Dutchman has been linked with several clubs, It was clear that Ten Hag would not make the step back to the Eredivisie, nor continue in England. When Xabi Alonso relinquished the reins at Bayer Leverkusen to lead Real Madrid, Ten Hag was ready. Once again, Antony is connected to his former mentor.
Erik ten Hag brought Antony to Ajax in 2020. When the Dutchman was inducted as the new Manchester United manager in 2022, he pressured his new club to pay what it took to bring the Brazilian winger on board. Ajax squeezed United up to a wild €95 million, a player Solskjaer told United scouts had defined as a €25 million player. It ended up as “the most expensive United flop of all time. Now a totally surprising reunion lurks.
After Antony’s great performances on loan at Real Betis from January, the La Liga club are working intensely to put in place a new lease deal with United, while Manchester United need sales revenue in a season without games in Europe. This opens the door for Bayer Leverkusen, who free up a good amount of euros by selling Florian Wirtz to Liverpool.
According to German Sky Sports, the Bundesliga club is closely following this process. Antony is on the list of potential signings, it is reported. With Erik ten Hag as the new Leverkusen manager, it could be heading towards another reunion. After years of cooperation at United that did not yield results, this must be characterized as a big surprise.
However, the Bundesliga is not the Premier League. Antony didn’t need many weeks to deliver to Player of the Match level in La Liga, Ten Hag knows German football well, probably the Dutchman sees Antony as a better match with the intensity and physical play of the Bundesliga.
Antony has as many assists in 26 Real Betis games as 96 in a United shirt, goals are 6 at Betis, 12 at United.
