Man Utd are in centre of another domestic violence storm with Antony’s police probe the latest headache for club
MANCHESTER UNITED could have been forgiven for breathing a sigh of relief just before 11pm on Friday.
That was the time when Mason Greenwood’s loan move to Spanish club Getafe was confirmed.
And while he remains on the Old Trafford payroll, the young forward is somebody else’s problem — for the next few months at least.
Yet there was little time for anyone at United to get too comfortable.
Because another major headache was lurking just around the corner — as often seems to be the case with this club.
Some United supporters might have thought the 3-1 defeat at the hands of rivals Arsenal on Sunday was bad enough.
Then it was compounded by a public ding dong between boss Erik ten Hag and £73million England man Jadon Sancho over his omission from the squad.
Yet as it turned out, that was nothing.
Just hours later, it got worse still as United found themselves at the centre of another domestic violence storm.
On Monday, it emerged that Brazil winger Antony was being investigated by police in both Manchester and Sao Paulo.
His former partner, Gabriela Cavallin, first made accusations against him in June — but has now published new ones in her homeland.
She claims the 23-year-old had threatened her while she was pregnant, damaged her breast implant, cut her finger with a glass and threatened to throw her out of a speeding car.
Meanwhile, the former Ajax star released a statement on his social media later that day strongly refuting the latest accusations.
Antony acknowledged that the relationship had been “tumultuous” with many verbal rows — but said suggestions of physical aggression were not true.
Despite his confidence the police investigations would reveal he was innocent, he found himself dropped by his national team for upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Bolivia and Peru.
In the following 24 hours there were growing calls from domestic violence charities for United to take action themselves.
One of those came from Countdown presenter and long-standing Red Devils fan Rachel Riley — who had also spoken out strongly about her club’s handling of Greenwood.
She described the alleged incidents as ‘heinous’ and called for domestic abuse experts to be involved in any decision-making at the club.
Meanwhile, Andrea Simon, director of the End Violence Against Women Coalition told United ‘the world is watching’ how they handled the situation.
The club finally released a statement yesterday morning and insisted they are taking the matter seriously.
But they are waiting for the police investigations on both sides of the Atlantic to be concluded before they decide on a course of action.
At the moment, the only evidence out there comes from Cavallin — and her version of events has been strongly rebuffed by Antony.
Currently there is no internal probe being carried out and the feeling at United is that he is innocent until proven guilty.
But United sources say they have learnt lessons from the criticism they got over their handling of the Greenwood case.
They have also taken external advice from the PFA and Women’s Aid — and have pledged to co- operate fully with police enquiries.
Greenwood was only suspended by the club following his arrest in January last year — and, as yet, Antony has not been charged with anything.
So as things stand, the club have resisted calls to suspend the Brazil winger and — in theory at least — he will be available for selection when Ten Hag’s men return to action in nine days.
The hope will be that he is cleared of any wrongdoing in the meantime and be ready to face Brighton at Old Trafford.
Yet it remains to be seen how being at the centre of such damaging allegations will affect a player who has struggled to justify his huge price-tag since he arrived in Manchester last summer.