Finding a Replacement for Antony
Antony joined Real Betis in January when they were 10th, 5 points away from 6th place. Come May, and Betis were 6th, fighting for the 5th place, which guaranteed a Champions League spot, as well as reaching the UEFA Conference League final, the first time Betis reached the final of a European competition.
In the end, they ended 6th and they lost the final; nonetheless, the impact Antony had in the squad was remarkable, scoring 9 goals and providing 5 assists in 26 games between La Liga and the Conference League. However, Antony joined on a loan deal, which means he won’t be in the squad next year, which leaves Betis needing a replacement for the Brazilian winger.
In this article, we will be looking at potential replacements for Antony at Real Betis. With the use of Scouting Stats AI and the McLachApp, both websites formed by football data enthusiasts on Twitter by the names of @ChicagoDmitry and @DEvansData on X, I have been able to find 3 potential replacements for Antony at Real Betis.
Betis have made some signings with relatively large fees in recent transfer windows; for instance, they signed Cucho Hernández for €13 million in January. This suggests that they are not reluctant to pay large fees for players, and looking at the impact Antony had, as well as, the most probable sale of Johnny Cardoso and possibly even Jesús Rodríguez, they will have the finances to invest money into that position, therefore, we will be looking at a budget of close to €30 million, or other potential market opportunities.
Name: Ethan Chidiebere Nwaneri
Position: Right Winger/ Center Forward/ Attacking Midfielder
Country: England
Age: 18
Height: 176cm
Preferred Foot: Left
Current Club: Arsenal
Context: Nwaneri has been brought up through Arsenal’s youth system and has had his breakthrough campaign this year, scoring 4 goals and making 2 assists in just under 900’ in the Premier League.
Radar charts of Antony and Ethan Nwaneri. (FBref, 2025).
In this chart, we can observe that Nwaneri is still raw in his final output with low numbers in shot-creating actions and goal-creating actions, as well as his npxG + xAG. Moreover, he has clearly overscored his xG with many more goals than xG created. Compared to Antony, these numbers are very poor; however, given that it was his first season and his age, it is understandable that he will have these issues in his first season.
Also, looking at his high shot volume, these numbers will probably improve as he likes to take shots frequently. Nonetheless, when it comes to dribbling and carrying the ball, he has shown this season that he is excellent, ranking very highly for successful take-ons, carries into the penalty area, or progressive carries.
Furthermore, despite not producing numbers in goals and assists, he is above average for key passes and passes into the penalty area, which shows that he is also able to generate opportunities from the wing. In addition, just like Antony, he is present in the final third and likes to interact with the ball often, being in a high percentile for touches in the attacking third.
Shotmaps of Antony and Ethan Nwaneri. (FotMob, 2025).
As mentioned previously, Nwaneri has overscored his xG; however, Antony has also, and as mentioned previously, Nwaneri is a high-volume shooter just like Antony. In addition, they like to take shots from the same positions and their goals are from very similar situations, as we can see all coming from the right, both outside and inside the box.
Heatmaps of Antony and Ethan Nwaneri. (Sofascore, 2025).
These images represent each player’s positioning this season, and as we can see, both players take up very similar positions, with both of them inverting into the middle where they can get their shots off. Nonetheless, we can see that Nwaneri does not hug the touchline as much as Antony, though with more game time, this may be more visible. Moreover, they both take the corners from the right-hand side, which shows both players’ great ability to cross the ball.
Overall, Nwaneri would be a great fit for Betis, and of course, a transfer is not possible. However, if Betis prefers to spend money on other positions, Nwaneri could possibly be available on a loan deal, given that with Bukayo Saka, Nwaneri will have limited game time, and Betis could be the perfect solution.
Name: Saint-Cyr Johan Bakayoko
Position: Right Winger
Country: Belgium
Age: 22
Height: 179cm
Preferred Foot: Left
Current Club: PSV Eindhoven
Context: Before entering PSV’s youth system, Bakayoko went through the academies of OH Leuven, Club Brugge, Mechelen, and Anderlecht. He joined PSV’s first team in 2022, where he has been playing ever since.
Radar charts of Antony and Johan Bakayoko. (FBref, 2025).
This chart shows us Bakayoko’s numbers both in the Eredivisie and in the Champions League, where PSV reached the round of 16. As we can see in the Eredivisie, Bakayoko is outstanding in every metric apart from goal-creating actions, which is probably due to a problem in the data, as he ranks highly for both shot-creating actions and npxG + xAG. This tells us that Bakayoko is probably the best winger in the Eredivisie and is ready to make an impact in one of the big leagues.
When we look at his Champions League numbers, it is important to note that PSV is not one of the most important teams in the competition and that the Champions League has better teams than La Liga. Either way, we can observe that Bakayoko’s dribbling and carrying percentiles are still very high, which shows that he is excellent in this facet of the game, as well as making key passes frequently.
Furthermore, his goal production numbers are average with npxG + xAG, as well as goal-creating actions and shot-creating actions in the middle. Nonetheless, this is still very good as this shows that he is better than the average Champions League winger, which is great. Finally, just like Nwaneri, he is a high-volume shooter, which means that he likes to take shots frequently, similar to Antony.
Shotmaps of Antony and Johan Bakayoko. (Fotmob, 2025).
Here, we can observe that just like Antony, he has outscored his xG by 3 goals, and he likes to take shots from the right, both from inside and outside the box.
Heatmaps of Antony and Johan Bakayoko. (Sofascore, 2025).
These images show each player’s positioning this season. Overall, we can see that both players tend to be in the same positions, with both of them hugging the touchlines but then cutting inside in the final third where they can take shots. Furthermore, Bakayoko, just like Antony, takes the corners from the right side for his club.
Overall, Bakayoko would be an excellent signing and is a market opportunity, as despite his €30 million market value, he is entering his final year in his contract, which means that PSV may leave him at a cheaper price. Although this would be a big investment, I am sure that he would excel at Real Betis and then be able to leave a big sell-on value in a few years.
Name: Nicolas-Gerrit Kühn
Position: Right Winger/ Left Winger
Country: Germany
Age: 25
Height: 174cm
Preferred Foot: Left
Current Club: Celtic
Context: Kühn passed through the academies of Wunstorf, St. Pauli, Hannover, RB Leipzig, Ajax, and Bayern Munich before reaching professional football. First, in a loan deal at Erzgebirge Aue and then Rapid Vienna on a permanent deal for €500k. After a year and a half, Celtic signed the German winger for €3.5 million in January of 2024, and has played there ever since.
Radar chart of Nicolas Kühn. (Wyscout, 2025).
This chart shows Kühn’s data from the Scottish league, and as we can see, he is a high-volume shooter and is decisive in the final third, ranking highly for both xG and xA. Furthermore, he has many touches in the box per 90, which indicates that he likes to be present in the box and correlates with his high xG values. However, it is true that he is playing for the best team in the league, so these numbers are inflated.
In addition, he likes to dribble frequently and is a progressive carrier, ranking high in both these metrics. Finally, he does not attempt many crosses, which is also because he prefers to attack the box, as mentioned previously.
Radar charts of Antony and Nicolas Kühn. (FBref, 2025).
Before we analyse these numbers, it is important to note that this data comes from his minutes in the Champions League playing for Celtic, which is one of the least important teams in the competition.
Considering this, his numbers are quite good, given that his goal production numbers are excellent, close to the 80th percentile. Furthermore, he also ranks relatively well for successful take-ons and carries into the penalty area, which shows that he has good dribbling ability, though his progressive carries and carries into the final third are below average.
Nonetheless, his numbers for key passes and passes into the penalty area are quite good, showing he has an eye for a pass and can generate opportunities despite his shot-creating actions values being so low. Either way, he is an average Champions League winger, or maybe even better than average, considering the team he was playing for.
Shotmaps of Antony and Nicolas Kühn. (Fotmob, 2025).
These images show each player’s shot locations, and the first noticeable aspect is that Kühn has scored an impressive 13 goals and has overscored his xG like Antony, though it is true that his team is the best team in the league, hence most of his shots are inside the box. Nonetheless, despite Kühn taking more shots, we can see that there is a tendency from the right side, but there are also many shots from more central areas, and he has many goals scored from these positions, which could be from cutbacks where he has more license to enter the box, given their superiority.
Heatmaps of Antony and Nicolas Kühn. (Sofascore, 2025).
We can see here that both players often take similar positions, with both hugging the touchline to then cut inside, though Kühn is more present in the box. However, as mentioned previously, this may be due to the tactics of Celtic given their superiority over the majority of the teams in the league.
Overall, I believe that Kühn would be a great signing and has shown he can play at the top stage; furthermore, he would be more accessible than Bakayoko with a market value of €12 million.
Conclusion
I believe that the safest option and the most accessible player is Nicolas Kühn, who has shown he is a Champions League player, and if Betis can sign him, I am sure he would be a great asset. However, if possible, Bakayoko would be a fantastic signing, and Nwaneri could be an option if Betis sees that other options are too expensive.
By: Juan Fernandez Valencia / @ScoutLaLiga1
Featured Image: @GabFoligno / Visionhaus / Getty Images