Antony interview: 'I’ve learnt from it all, I’ve grown and matured' (2024)

Leaning forward in an armchair in the lobby of a Beverly Hills hotel, Antony goes into his third Manchester United campaign knowing he needs to play better.

The Brazilian, now 24, went from scoring eight goals and getting five assists in all competitions in 2022-23 to scoring three goals and providing two assists in 2023-24.

He missed a month of the last campaign, in September, when the club gave him a leave of absence to respond to allegations he had attacked three women. Antony has always strongly denied any wrongdoing.

His former partner, Gabriela Cavallin, alleged in an interview with Brazilian outlet UOL that she had been attacked by him on three separate occasions, while two other women — Rayssa de Freitas and Ingrid Lana — also made allegations in Brazil.

To respond to the Cavallin allegations, Antony voluntarily attended an interview with Greater Manchester Police (GMP) on September 28. The following day, United announced he would resume training.

GMP has confirmed to The Athletic that the investigation into the allegations against Antony remains ongoing. Antony’s representatives have also said that the Brazilian authorities’ investigation is active. Due to this, The Athletic has turned off comments on this article for legal reasons, and questions about the case are also off-limits in this interview.

Reflecting on his form, Antony says the police attention “definitely” had an effect.

“I’m someone who demands a lot of myself, I was obviously not satisfied with my season, but a lot happened over the year in my personal life,” he says. “Like it or not, everything I went through had an effect on the pitch. That’s behind me now and it’s a new season. I’ve got a strong mentality and I’m focused on what I want, I know that this season will be totally different… I’ve learnt from it all, I’ve grown and matured.”

Antony’s future appeared up in the air this summer, two years after signing in a deal worth €100million (£86m; $109m at current rates), which made him the 13th most-expensive player in United’s history. In this window, there has been interest from Ligue 1 clubs but current market calculations place his value at around a third of his fee in August 2022. He arguably has a tougher fight for his place on the right wing now than at any stage previously, with Amad emerging, Jadon Sancho back, and Alejandro Garnacho making that role his own last season.

But Antony insists he is determined to be a success at Old Trafford and can “help put United at the top, where we belong”. After missing the first two pre-season friendlies with what the club called a “niggle”, he appeared in each of the three matches in America, replacing Amad as a substitute.

“I demand a lot of myself,” says Antony. “I have a lot of objectives, ones I write down for myself and many for this new season. I definitely need more goal participations and to score more goals; it’s something I demand from myself. Rest assured, you’ll hear the name Antony in relation to goals and assists.”

Antony understands English but is speaking to a group of media in Portuguese, through a translator. He explains more about his process: “I always set out objectives: more goal participations, assists, where I need to improve. I put them down on paper rather than on my phone.

“I usually take the notes with me but, if I leave them at home, I’ll always ask my wife to send me a photo of them. I’m always looking at them to ensure that I’m constantly improving.”

Antony analyses his statistics and rather than use modern technology, says he takes up a pen to clarify areas of improvement in his mind.

“I’m writing down more goals for this season and I look at them every day,” he adds. “There’s a lot of things I note down in detail: how many shots I should be making in a game, I can’t lose the ball, I need to score goals and create assists, pass and dribble completions, as well as defensive performance. I have a lot of objectives. I’m always reflecting.

“I haven’t been doing this for that long, but I’m doing it a lot more for this season, I have to do it for every game. I came up with the idea of journaling my objectives with my wife.”

During the open training session in Los Angeles, Antony twice scored with his right foot — as he did against Liverpool in the FA Cup — and he accepts that working on his weaker side has featured in his notes. “Yes, yes, they will see more — it’s there written on paper in my objectives — more work on the right foot, score more goals and assists. I’ll show you these notes one day and you’ll see the results this season.

“It’s really important for me. It allows me to visualise and mentalise and then step onto the pitch with this in mind. I’m also doing this in training as well and it really helps me. I think it’s a really good idea.”

In March, he created one of the striking images of United’s season by placing the fingertips of both hands to his temples and letting out twin exploding motions, seemingly incredulous at the request from Erik ten Hag.

Antony had scored a late equaliser against Liverpool in the FA Cup quarter-final and then, with United’s team stocked full of attackers, was told to play left-back for extra time. “You feel annoyed in the moment during the game,” Antony admits.

United dramatically beat Liverpool 4-3. Then, a couple of months later, Antony was informed by Ten Hag he would be needed at left-back again in the final minutes of the Premier League visit by Arsenal. Once more, Antony reacted visibly on the pitch. Afterwards in the dressing room, Ten Hag rebuked Antony, telling him he must play where he was instructed.

Antony did not get a minute in United’s final three games, including the FA Cup final victory over Manchester City. But he explains his actions and insists his relationship with Ten Hag is strong.

“I’ve got a lot of affection for the coach, as he well knows, and he has a lot of affection for me,” says the Brazilian, who worked with Ten Hag at Ajax for two years. “Whenever we talk, he always mentions my roots in the favela, because he knows a bit — not everything — about what I’ve been through and overcome. I am also really grateful to him. He’s a great coach and he knows he can rely upon me.

“A lot happened last season. I played full-back and was a little uneasy about it but that was because, with the team losing or drawing, you want to be in the attack to turn things around and help the team, so being moved into defence bothered me a bit, you feel annoyed in the moment during the game, but afterwards it’s all fine… I have tremendous affection for Erik.”

Antony grew up in Inferninho, a favela in Sao Paulo far from the city centre, which is always with him via the tattoo on his back and the inscriptions on his boots.

“My childhood was very difficult as it’s very challenging living in the favela,” he says. “I lived in the favela for 19 years. I talked about the difficult times I went through last year, but I’ve overcome more significant difficulties in the favela — like when I didn’t have boots to play football, when at times there wasn’t enough to eat. It’s tremendously rewarding to see where I am today, living the dream of playing for United.”

Antony pauses as tears form in his eyes.

“It’s difficult for me to talk about my background as it’s something that really moves me,” he continues. “I saw a lot of friends go down another path and some of them lost their lives. I always persisted and believed in my dream to be where I am today.

“When people talk about me or criticise me, I always find solace in where I came from, I’ll never let anyone else write my story or let people put me down as I genuinely know what it’s like to be at the bottom.

“I know what I went through, I know what my mother, father, brother and sister suffered together with me. There’s my wife as well who I’ve known since 2017, she was in the favela with me. I’m really grateful to the favela, it’s somewhere I suffered a lot, but always with a smile on my face.

“I remember when I was little my mum and dad would work a lot and only come home at night, I said to my mum that there will come a time when she can stop working and I’ll be the one doing the running and providing.

“Today, I can live this dream. I can see my mum provided for well and I’m doing the running now. The most difficult moment in my childhood was my parents’ separation in 2010 when I was 10.”

It is put to Antony that people perhaps do not always comprehend this hardship.

“People don’t see these things,” he says. “I don’t use it as an excuse for my performances as I demand a lot of myself to be always playing well. The favela is with me for the rest of my life, I will always represent the favela.”

(Top photo: Ash Donelon/Manchester United via Getty Images)

Laurie Whitwell worked for the Daily Mail from 2010, covering midlands football for the last five years, including Leicester’s remarkable Premier League triumph. Whitwell was nominated for sports scoop of the year at the 2019 SJAs for breaking Wayne Rooney’s move to DC United. He will be reporting on Manchester United for The Athletic. Follow Laurie on Twitter @lauriewhitwell