Antony (footballer, born 2000)

Antony Matheus dos Santos (born 24 February 2000), known mononymously as Antony (Brazilian Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈɐ̃.tõ.ni]), is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a right winger for La Liga club Real Betis and the Brazil national team.

Antony graduated from the São Paulo academy and made his senior debut for the club in 2018. He moved abroad to Ajax in the summer of 2020, where he won two Eredivisie titles and one KNVB Cup during his two seasons. Antony's performances in the Netherlands led to a transfer worth €95 million (£82 million) to Premier League side Manchester United, the highest sum paid for an Eredivisie player. He fell out of favour at Manchester United after manager Erik ten Hag, who had managed Antony at Ajax, was replaced by Ruben Amorim in November 2024. He was loaned to Real Betis in January 2025 for the remainder of the 2024–25 season, before joining the club permanently that summer.

Antony won a gold medal with the Brazil under-23 team at the 2020 Summer Olympics. He then made his senior international debut and scored against Venezuela in October 2021, going on to represent Brazil at the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

Early life

Antony was born in Osasco, São Paulo, and grew up in Inferninho, a favela far from the city centre. Growing up, he would play football wherever he could on the streets or in his house, combining his love of futsal with street football and regularly attending São Paulo matches with his aunt.

Club career

São Paulo

He began playing football at an early age, and he was spotted by São Paulo, who offered him a contract in 2010, aged 10, and as inducted into their youth academy. During his youth years, Antony struggled for game time and was close to being dismissed from the club's youth ranks, but the staff convinced his manager to keep him. While in the youth academy, Antony met Helinho and Igor Gomes, becoming friends in the process. In September 2018, Antony helped his team win the J-League Challenge tournament in Japan, and named the tournament's best player.

Later that month, on 26 September, Antony, alongside Helinho and Igor Gomes, was promoted to the senior team, and he signed a contract until September 2023. On 15 November, he made his first-team debut, coming on as a substitute for Helinho in a 1–1 draw against Grêmio. He was demoted to the club's under-20 team, to take part in the Copa São Paulo de Futebol Júnior, which his team won. He scored in the final against Vasco da Gama, and named the tournament's best player, for his 4 goals and 6 assists in 9 games he played in the competition.

Following his displays in the tournament, Antony returned to the first team, and with São Paulo struggling in the Campeonato Paulista, he began playing more first-team matches. He scored his first goal on 21 March, in a 1–1 draw against São Caetano, with the Tricolor conceding a goal in stoppage time. He scored two goals, including one in the final against Corinthians a month later, where his side lost 2–1 on aggregate. On 18 July, he agreed to an extension until 2024.

On 5 March 2020, Antony made his debut in the Copa Libertadores, starting in São Paulo's 2–1 loss to Peruvian side Binacional. Following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the season was halted for various months, and as such Antony made his last appearance for the club on 14 March, featuring in the 2–1 victory over rivals Santos in the San-São derby.

Ajax

On 23 February 2020, Ajax signed Antony on a five-year deal, effective from 1 July 2020, for an initial £13 million, which could have risen to £18.2 million. He made his debut for the club on 13 September 2020, scoring the only goal of an away win over Sparta Rotterdam. He made his debut in the UEFA Champions League on 27 October, in a 2–2 draw against Atalanta, leaving the field in the 90th minute, following a collision with Ruslan Malinovskyi, before scoring his first goal in the competition on 3 November 2020, in a 2–1 away win over Midtjylland.

During the 2020–21 season, Antony competed with David Neres for a spot in the starting line-up, eventually appearing to 46 times. He finished the season with 11 goals and 10 assists, including a goal in the 3–1 defeat of Vitesse in the domestic cup final, helping Ajax win the domestic double of the Eredivisie and the KNVB Cup.

The following season, despite the signings of Mohamed Daramy and Steven Berghuis, Antony kept his place in the starting line-up, and with his two goals and five assists against Sporting CP and Borussia Dortmund, Ajax became the first Dutch club to win all six Champions League group games in the competition's history. His three goals and one assist earned him the league's Player of the Month and Talent of the Month award for December. On 20 March, Antony scored a late winner in a 3–2 victory against De Klassieker rivals Feyenoord in Eredivisie, five minutes into the added time, before being sent off, after receiving a second yellow card seconds later for time wasting.

Nine days later, while on international duty for Brazil national team, during a World Cup qualification match, Antony suffered an ankle injury, which ruled him out for the remainder of the season. He ended the campaign with 12 goals and 10 assists, as Ajax retained their Eredivisie title.

Following his return from injury against Fortuna Sittard on 6 August, the 2022–23 season was preceded by a dispute over Antony' desire to leave Ajax. After Ajax rejected the interest expressed by Manchester United for Antony, including an €85 million transfer bid, he failed to turn up to training, and was left out of the matchdays squads against Sparta Rotterdam and Utrecht. In an interview, Antony revealed that he had wanted to leave in February, but he waited to the end of the summer window for the transfer to proceed, rejecting a contract renewal from Ajax to "follow his dreams".

Manchester United

On 30 August 2022, Ajax confirmed they had reached an agreement with Manchester United for Antony's transfer. Two days later, Antony signed a five-year contract for a transfer fee of €95 million (£82 million), with a further €5 million (£4.27 million) in add-ons, the third highest transfer fee ever paid by the club after Paul Pogba and Romelu Lukaku and this was Ajax's and the Eredivisie's biggest transfer ever. Upon his arrival at the club he was handed the number 21 shirt previously worn by Edinson Cavani, who had recently departed the club.

On 4 September, Antony scored on his debut for the club in a 3–1 home league victory over rivals Arsenal. He scored again in United's next league match, a 6–3 defeat to local rivals Manchester City on 2 October. The next week, he scored for a third successive league game to equalise the score at Everton, as United won 2–1, becoming the first United player to score in their first three consecutive Premier League games.

On 23 February 2023, Antony scored the winner in a 2–1 Europa League playoff match, coming on as a substitute at half-time, over Barcelona, a day before his 23rd birthday. On 26 February, he started in the 2023 EFL Cup final as Manchester United beat Newcastle United 2–0 at Wembley Stadium, winning his first trophy with the club. After not being able to score at Old Trafford for over a year, Antony ended his goal drought on 17 March 2024, scoring in a 4–3 victory against arch-rivals Liverpool in the FA Cup quarter finals.

Betis

Initial loan

On 25 January 2025, Antony was loaned out to La Liga club Real Betis until the end of the 2024–25 season. He made his debut for the club on 2 February, in a 2–2 draw with Athletic Bilbao, creating Betis' first goal, being named man of the match. Seven days later, Antony scored his first goals for Betis, and named man of the match in a 3–2 loss to Celta Vigo. His form led him to be nominated to the La Liga Player of the Month award. On 23 February, in a league match against Getafe, Antony was sent off in the same match for a challenge on Juan Iglesias. However, three days later, the red card was overturned by Royal Spanish Football Federation, following a successful claim of wrongful dismissal. After the red card was overturned, Betis then won their next match 2–1 against Real Madrid. On 8 May, he scored the opening goal and assisted an extra time goal in a 4–3 aggregate victory over Fiorentina, to help Betis reach their first ever European final.

In May 2025, Manchester United put Antony and several other players on the transfer list ahead of the 2025–26 season. Later that month, Antony announced his departure from Real Betis via social media, concluding a six-month loan spell with the club.

He ended the season with 14 goal contributions in all competitions for Betis, helping the team qualify for the UEFA Europa League and leading the media to label his time there as a "career revival".