Real Betis expect to complete the loan signing of Manchester United winger Antony, who is poised to join the club for the rest of the season.

Cash-strapped Betis have created room in their squad for Antony, and the money to help finance the deal, by selling 19-year-old home-grown attacker Assane Diao for €12 million (£10 million). United will subsidise Antony’s loan by covering a significant portion of his wages with Betis agreeing to penalties for each set of five games that he does not play for them. Betis, 12th in the league and struggling, are confident the 24-year-old will join for them for the rest of the season.

United will also step up their efforts this week to find a loan move for Marcus Rashford with sources in Germany suggesting that Borussia Dortmund are hopeful of signing him with French club Monaco are believed to be their closest rivals.

Antony, who was signed by Erik ten Hag, has not come close to justifying the £81.3 million that United agreed to pay for him in August 2022. He has scored one Premier League goal since April 2023 – a run of 43 appearances – and has become an increasingly peripheral figure.

The Brazilian came on for Noussair Mazraoui as an 84th-minute substitute in the 3-1 league home defeat by Brighton & Hove Albion which is likely to be his last United appearance this season.

In all he has played 96 games for United, scoring just 12 goals and has only started three matches in all competitions this season.

United will hope that Antony can revive his career in Spain, which can then lead to him securing a permanent transfer and allow them to recoup some of that extraordinary transfer fee.

Antony is under contract at Old Trafford until 2027 with the club holding an option to extend that by 12 months.

His signing has become emblematic of the huge amounts of money United have wasted in the transfer market. Antony is the second-most expensive signing in United’s history after Paul Pogba.