Antony Reveals Liverpool Bid and Salah Succession Plan

Antony’s Manchester United story has long been framed around one question: was he ever really worth £82 million? The Brazilian has now added a twist of his own, claiming that, before he followed Erik ten Hag to Old Trafford, Liverpool tried to sign him as a potential successor to Mohamed Salah.

The winger, currently rebuilding his reputation with an outstanding season at Real Betis, lifted the lid on his 2022 move from Ajax in an interview with ESPN Brazil. His version of events pulls two of English football’s modern giants into the same transfer tug of war.

“I had a proposal from Liverpool”

Antony says United were not alone at the table.

“When I went to Manchester United, I had a proposal from Liverpool, from Klopp, on the table,” he said. “It was also very good. Salah was negotiating a departure, but he ended up staying. Then the manager called me. The name of Manchester United carries weight.”

The context matters. At the time, Salah’s future at Anfield looked uncertain as contract talks dragged on and speculation swirled about a possible exit. According to Antony, Liverpool were actively bracing for that scenario, sounding out options to refresh their forward line if their talisman walked away.

In that landscape, the Brazilian was more than just another name. He was, by his own account, part of Liverpool’s contingency plan.

Salah stayed. The dominoes fell a different way. And when Ten Hag pushed hard for his former Ajax winger, United paid a premium to get him.

Two careers, two very different paths

With hindsight, Antony’s claim drops into a sharply contrasting picture.

Salah eventually committed his future to Liverpool, signed a new deal and remained the centrepiece of Jürgen Klopp’s attack. He stayed on Merseyside for another four years, adding another Premier League title to an already glittering CV and finishing with 257 goals in 442 appearances across all competitions.

This season, though, told a slightly different story. Twelve goals in 41 games marked a clear dip in his usual output, a reminder that even icons eventually feel the weight of time and miles in their legs.

Antony’s trajectory went the opposite way. He arrived at Old Trafford as Ten Hag’s marquee signing, the £82m winger expected to light up the right flank and spearhead a new era. It never truly materialised. Flashes of quality, yes, but not enough end product, not enough consistency, and nowhere near enough to match the fee or the fanfare.

By last summer, his United chapter had closed. He left on a permanent deal and has since found his feet at Real Betis, where his numbers tell a very different story: 14 goals and 10 assists in 46 appearances across all competitions. In Spain, the player United thought they were buying has finally appeared.

“A bit of a lack of respect”

Antony has not hidden his frustration at how his time in Manchester unfolded off the pitch as well as on it.

“Look, I'm not the kind of guy who gets involved in controversies, who names people, in fact, I won't mention anyone's name here,” he told ESPN Brazil. “But I think there was a bit of a lack of respect there, even a bit of rudeness too, with no one giving you a good morning, a good afternoon.

“Not even that. But, anyway, that's in the past, I won't give much importance to these things. Now I'm here, at Betis, I'm living here, that's the most important thing for me.”

No dressing room details, no finger-pointing, but the message is clear enough: he did not feel valued at United, and he has no desire to relive it.

A sliding-doors moment

Strip it back and the story hangs on a simple counterfactual.

If Salah had left, would Liverpool really have made Antony their new right-sided spearhead? Would the Brazilian have flourished in Klopp’s high-octane, well-drilled system in a way he never quite did under the constant glare at Old Trafford?

We will never know. Salah stayed, Liverpool’s attack remained built around him, and Antony chose the weight of United’s badge and the familiar hand of Ten Hag.

Now, with Salah’s numbers finally dipping and Antony thriving in Spain, the what-ifs around that summer of 2022 only grow louder.