Michail Antonio has finally managed to find a new club after a devastating car accident, with the former West Ham forward revealing he has been waiting to return to football
Michail Antonio has finally found a new club (Image: Getty Images)
Michail Antonio has revealed that he broke down in tears after seeing his return to the Premier League fail. The striker left West Ham at the end of last season after being involved in a devastating car accident.
Antonio suffered a broken leg in the accident and required long-term treatment at the hospital. The 35-year-old, who has rejoined the Jamaican national team, remained keen to find a new club.
“He still has the quality he had in the Premier League for the last 10 years,” Antonio told BBC Sport. “I can tell because every manager had offered me a contract after I trained with them.
“But there were managers and clubs who refused to look at me because of things that had happened, like accidents and injuries. There were also owners who were against it. Sometimes in football the manager wants you, but it’s the owner’s money.
“My agent kept calling the club, and the same thing happened. The club wanted me to train first. In my ego, I said, ‘I’m not coming to train. You’ve seen me play in Jamaica, you’ve watched me for the last 10 years. I don’t need to train to get a contract.’ The club said, ‘If you don’t train, you don’t sign.’
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“After being at West Ham, training with the Under-21s, and then being away from Jamaica again, my agent said, ‘You have to train and prove your fitness.’
“I had to swallow my ego and that’s how I ended up at Brentford. I trained with them for two weeks.”
Antonio had trials with Brentford, Leicester City and Charlton Athletic, but injury problems ruined his chances of signing with the former two. Speaking about the shock, he said: “When I found out I had torn my calf the day before I signed for Brentford, I lay in bed for two days.
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Antonio trained with a number of clubs after leaving West Ham (Image: Getty Images)
“The first day I just cried. The second day I didn’t want to get out of bed. I thought: ‘I’m back where I want to be, back in the Premier League’. And the same thing happened at Leicester.”
“I was going back to Leicester but they didn’t want me back because they didn’t want a relapse on the books. So I trained on my own for a week and then went to Charlton.”
Antonio was eventually able to find a new club, choosing to sign with Qatari club Al Sairiya on a contract until the end of the season.
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