Credit: Imago/Sky Sports Premier League

Zak Anderton

Fri 28 February 2025 16:30, UK

Manchester United flop Antony has dropped a surprising admission about whether could have ended up at Liverpool.

Over the years, the Reds have been extremely canny with their recruitment with the likes of Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister being the most notable moves over the last couple of seasons.

Antony, however, was a marquee signing for the Red Devils when he made the switch from Ajax in a deal which set the club back around £75million.

The move didn’t quite work out and he now finds himself plying his trade for La Liga side Real Betis after accepting a six-month loan deal until the end of the term.

However, it seems that things could have ended up rather differently after what the Brazilian has admitted.

Antony was ‘very close’ to joining Liverpool

With a fee of £75m hanging over his head, the expectation upon the shoulders of the attacker must have been astronomical.

He joined the Red Devils in their time of need and followed former manager Ten Hag to try and reinvigorate the fallen giant.

Instead, much to the amusement of their rivals such as Liverpool, the move didn’t work out with the attacker only netting 12 goals in his time at Old Trafford.

Speaking in an interview with Saudi Arabian outlet Koora (28 February), Antony revealed that he was actually “very close” to joining Jurgen Klopp’s Reds before making the switch to United.

“I was very close to signing for Liverpool, but you never know what would have happened,” he said.

“In the end, I went to Manchester and had great moments there, and that was a good choice as well.”

Liverpool dodged a bullet with Antony transfer

Even though Liverpool’s fans haven’t been all that happy with the lack of business that the Merseyside outfit have done over the last couple of seasons, they can at least be happy about the fact that their club didn’t waste their money on Antony.

The attacker isn’t likely to have that much of a future left at Old Trafford upon his return, despite the fact that he seems to have found his goal-scoring boots once again.

Indeed, the Reds did end up signing Federico Chiesa last summer to provide some support for their attack but due to things such as injuries, he’s failed to have all that much of an impact.

But, given the fact he likely cost the Reds around a seventh of what Antony cost the Red Devils, it feels like they’ve dodged a massive bullet.

Of course, things could have been different at Anfield compared to Old Trafford but from the form he’s shown over the last couple of seasons, it doesn’t feel like Liverpool have missed out on all that much.