Man Utd finally get £40m transfer breakthrough – but there’s a major catch

Manchester United are hoping to clear Antony off their wage bill to ensure they don’t fall foul of PSR regulations, but the Brazilian has so far struggled to find a new club – with many interested teams only keen on a loan

Fenerbahce are reportedly willing to pay Manchester United’s £40million asking price to sign Antony this summer – but the Brazilian isn’t convinced about a move to Jose Mourinho’s side.

Antony is one of five players who were placed in Ruben Amorim’s ‘bomb squad’ of unwanted players this summer, having enjoyed a superb loan stint at Real Betis. But with a permanent move to Betis not in the offing, the former Ajax player is looking for his next club after being frozen out of Amorim’s plans.

Antony scored nine goals in all competitions for the La Liga side last season as he led them to the Conference League final before an agonising 4-1 defeat to Chelsea and he showed he still has the quality to play at the highest level.

And one of the interested sides is Turkish giants Fenerbahce, manged by ex-United boss Mourinho, who is desperate to win his first title since taking charge of the club last year.

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But according to ESPN, Antony remains on the fence about the move and would “prefer to wait for other clubs” – despite being offered a lucrative salary in Turkey.

The problem for Antony, however, is that those clubs he is waiting on continue to insist on a loan deal – while United are hoping to secure a permanent exit for him.

Other clubs interested in signing Antony on loan are Brighton, Bayer Leverkusen and Benfica – who all want to sign the player on loan.

Antony himself “does not look favourably” on a loan deal, even though he had so much success during his temporary switch at Betis.

The report says Betis also still hold out hope of signing Antony on loan again and Antony would not be opposed to returning to the club.

Despite Leverkusen being one of the clubs linked with a move for Antony, manager Erik ten Hag – who twice signed the winger for both Ajax and Manchester United – has been quick to shut down the idea.

Speaking to Bild last month, he said: “He has great quality. I signed him twice. He was like a son to me, he still is a son to me. We’re not interested in him at the moment, but we’ll see what happens in the future.”

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