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Ruben Amorim has been told he let a ‘brutal talent’ leave Manchester United during the January transfer window.
Despite United’s ongoing issues, the Red Devils focussed on outgoings rather than incomings in January, with several first-team players securing loan moves.
Marcus Rashford joined Premier League rivals Aston Villa, Antony move to La Liga club Real Betis and Tyrell Malacia returned to Holland at PSV.
Trimming Amorim’s squad seemed wise at the time but both Rashford and Antony have enjoyed impressive starts to their stints away from Old Trafford.
Rashford made two assists in Aston Villa’s comeback win over Chelsea on Saturday, while Antony has scored three goals and provided two assists for Betis.
Antony, who flopped at Manchester United following a £82m move from Ajax in 2022, provided a superb assist for Real Betis teammate Isco in Sunday’s victory over Getafe.
But the Brazilian was then sent off in the latter stages of the match for a late lunge that left the Getafe players furious and rules him out of next weekend’s huge clash with Real Madrid.
Despite the red card, Antony was hailed as a ‘brutal talent’ by Isco after Real Betis hung on to beat Getafe.
‘It’s very easy to play with him,’ Isco told RTV Betis. ‘He’s got a brutal talent.
‘You have to put your talent at the service of the team. Let’s see if we can take that step forward to reach Europe.
‘Let’s see if Antony’s expulsion can be reviewed. Hopefully we can appeal and they don’t sanction him. We’ll see.’
Real Betis manager Manuel Pellegrini, formerly of Manchester City and West Ham, has been complimentary of Antony since he arrived at the club.
But the veteran manager said the dismissal against Getafe must be a ‘learning experience’, saying in his post-match press conference: ‘I can’t tell you about the sending off as I did not see it.
‘But it is a pity we won’t have him in the next game. He is bringing us a lot, we’ll miss him in the next game, this will be a learning experience for him.’
Explaining why Antony has been able to his United misery behind him at Betis, Pellegrini added: ‘The most important thing has been his attitude and his self-criticism.
‘If they paid that much for him it is because he is a player of a great level, who for reasons that I do not know could not perform as expected at Manchester United.
‘I have spoken a lot with him to keep him calm, without wanting to show great things , but to keep it simple.
‘He is a great player who does important things for the team and I hope he continues at that level until the end of the season because he will help us a lot.’
Manchester United only made two signings in January, bringing in Danish full-back Patrick Dorgu and teenage centre-back Ayden Heaven from Arsenal.
Amorim’s side looked set to suffer yet another defeat at the weekend but fought back from 2-0 down to draw with Everton at Goodison Park.
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