Real Betis ace Antony: Atletico Madrid made approach, but...

Real Betis ace Antony: Atletico Madrid made approach, but...

Antony admits Atletico Madrid wanted to sign him ahead of Real Betis this summer.

After a superb six-month loan at Betis last season, Antony was signed permanently from Manchester United in the final days of the market. But the deal wasn't struck until after months of tense negotiations - and rival offers.

Antony recalled: "Good offers came in, many of them just conversations and not real offers. I knew how important it was for me to be at Betis. Atl9tico Madrid? Atl9tico and other clubs... But it didn't go beyond conversations.

"The official offer I had from Betis is the one I signed and what I wanted. The rest didn't go beyond conversations."

Although negotiations between Manchester United and the Verdiblancos weren't easy, the striker remained steadfast.

He also said, "I'm very happy to be back. It's the decision I wanted, the one my wife wanted too. It was very hard, but when I go through things like that in life, I always remember the toughest times I went through in the favela, for example.

"You have to be persistent; I was doing my job to prepare for this moment. It was a bit scary not being able to come here. It was the club I wanted to be at. As difficult as it was, in the end I'm here and I'm very happy."