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'Disrespected' – La Liga star gets candid about Manchester United’s ‘bomb squad’ tactic

Originally posted on We All Follow United
By Jainil Shah | Last updated Oct 2, 2025 11:48 AM ET

Antony calls out Manchester United disrespect ahead of 2025 summer exit

We saw Manchester United shipping out Antony in the recently concluded summer transfer window. And while there were said to be approaches from the likes of Bayern Munich for the Brazilian’s signature, the former Ajax man chose to move to Real Betis instead.

Antony moved to United in a highly regarded transfer, but he struggled to find his feet at Old Trafford. The pressure of that massive price tag would have certainly contributed to the pressure that came with every mistouch or every mispass. Suddenly you didn’t see the boy from Brazil wanting to have fun. Instead it was someone who was trying too hard and not loving life at M16.

His move to the Seville-based club was quite about the fact that he wanted to play with a smile on his face again. And he is surely doing so for his new employers, where he is more of an integral player.

“Bomb Squad” controversy at Carrington continues as Antony speaks up

But more than the transfer itself, a lot of the makings of the move secured headlines when the Premier League heavyweights went on to certain measures to ensure that the players on the surplus list feel surplus. Antony was part of the bomb squad at Carrington, where he was forced to train alone and not with the first team.

And the Brazilian spent the whole summer living in a hotel pushing for a move to Betis. Antony did eventually get his way when Manchester Reds sanctioned an exit after his three-year stay at Old Trafford. But he felt quite disrespected by the club.

Speaking to Eldesmarque (as relayed by Sport Witness), the right winger said:

“They were very tough months in England, more than 40 days in the hotel, training separately… I feel like they disrespected me, but that’s not the point.”

WAFU Opinion

It is understandable that Antony didn’t feel right training on his own at Carrington. But all of that was more of a way to ensure that only the players that Ruben Amorim wanted in his squad pushed along together. In this way the Portuguese head coach avoided negativity that came along with having players with their head elsewhere training with the squad.

It is not the first time that an exit-linked player has been asked to train away from the squad, and it certainly wouldn’t be the last.

While Antony’s stance is understandable, so is the club’s.

This article first appeared on We All Follow United and was syndicated with permission.

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