REAL BETIS have launched a clothing range with new signing Antony to help fund his £21.6 million move from Manchester United.
The Spanish outfit were convinced the Brazilian winger was tailor-made for the club during a loan spell with them last season.
But they had hang-ups over the fee the Red Devils wanted to make the move permanent before the transfer window.
Betis chief exec Ramon Alarcon revealed how there was a difference in valuation of around £5 million as they closed in on a deal.
So they had to get creative to raise the necessary funds – with a new line in threads inspired by the former Ajax wide man.
Alarcon told ABC Sevilla: “We’ve launched a clothing line with Antony, we’re participating with him through royalties.
“And he’ll also have some non-sporting income from that merchandising,” he explained.
“If he ends up being the world star he has been, we at Betis hope to recover the investment and even what it cost us the previous year.
“It carries a certain risk because this is locked in for five years and at a high cost, but you can potentially reap benefits.
“It’s the most difficult signing I’ve made as CEO because there was a lot of pressure from all the Betis fans. It was taken for granted that he was coming, everyone was asking when he was coming.”
Antony’s move looked in danger of falling through 48 hours before the deadline over a payment he believed he was due from United.
In the end, that was scrapped while the Red Devils will receive 50% of any future transfer fee.
Betis had to wait for the Glazer family to sign off the deal in the USA on deadline day before they knew for sure they had him.
Alarcon added: “There was a moment when we saw it was lost because United’s position was difficult.
“We had a difference of €5m/€6m and had already reached our limit. In the end, we all made an effort, we did our part, and so did the player and United.
“On Sunday, during the match against Athletic, the relationship was very tense. Around noon, United sent the draft contract and asked us to make the changes.
“It was clear that they were going to comply with our requests.
“In the early hours of Sunday morning, at 2am, we received confirmation.
“It was one of the most problematic points, but we resolved it. Sunday at 2am is when the situation was unblocked, and we started looking for a plane so he could come on Monday afternoon.
“There was still a bit of stress because everything was agreed upon, but we had to wait for the Manchester United owners in the United States to sign, and they did so at 3pm on Monday.”
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