In the end, Michail Antonio’s “departure” from West Ham went out with a whimper. The end of an era... or not?
His contract ended on Monday, and on Tuesday he was ‘officially’ a free agent, we were told that he was the last player on the staff to have played at Upton Park after ten years with the club.The jokers out there suggested James Ward-Prowse qualified, but not as a West Ham player and that Mark Noble was still on the payroll. But I think we all understood what had happened.
He’s still part of the West Ham family, we are told, and his recovery from that horror car crash in December will still being monitored while he was not being treated in the same way as the other released players. So he’s not really gone gone, as Micky Flanagan might say.
But there has to be a but. Attempts to extend his contract failed after lengthy talks, he wanted too much money and a longer term contract while the club, not surprisingly, wanted a short term deal on reduced money. He was reported to be earning £90,000 a week.
Just where the wriggle room is there is anyone’s guess, but the whole situation could be addressed again, you’d think, if Graham Potter didn’t manage to sign a new, young striker. Where have we heard all that before?
So look at it how you want, Monday was the real end of an era. Antonio joined us for £7m from Nottingham Forest in 2015, since then he’s played 323 games for us, scored 83 goals, helped the club win the Europa Conference League and established himself as our top scorer in the Premier League era. No mean achievement.
And I just felt, for all of that, he deserves our thanks. He’s led the line—frequently single-handed—with strength, power, work rate and a welcomed desire to give opposing defenders the toughest ride out there.
To many who dwell only on the Premier League, he’s a genuine legend. I wouldn’t want to decry him that worthy honour, although my personal legends come from way, way back. I’m of a certain age, you see.
The 1964, 1965 FA Cup and Euro’ winning teams, the 1966 boys from the World Cup, later the heroes that were Trevor Brooking, Billy Bonds, Alan Devonshire, Alvin Martin, Phil Parkes, Tony Cottee, Frank McAvennie and Noble figure higher for me.
But I’m not going to die on any hill defending all that. Antonio is a modern day legend worthy of our thanks and long–term respect.
In later seasons Antonio, who was 35 last March, has been criticised somewhat. Not as quick as he was, not possessing the best first touch technique, you’ve all seen it and early last season he was very much an impact substitute, one goal in 15 games.
That was before he showed a glaring lack of technique when he was driving a high performance car around Theydon Bois in flip flops! Hence he was cut out of the car with a double fracture by the fire brigade boys.
And he had form for this sort of thing when he put another car into a wall one Christmas dressed as a snowman in 2019. You’d have thought the club would have put something in his contract, I mean they don’t allow sky diving and extreme sports. But seemingly driving racing cars around London streets is OK!
But seriously, he has been a great servant to West Ham. Opponents hated him for his bravery, physicality and desire. He could draw defenders all over the park and attack from either flank.
European defenders were scared of him. I recall being told that Xavi Alonso spent some time working with Bayer Leverkusen defenders on stopping Antonio. And he still scored against them in that Europa League second leg at the London Stadium.
Whether at 35 he’s worth the risk of some sort of new deal with us, or at a rival club, is anyone’s guess. But managed carefully he could be a real problem as a late substitute somewhere. You could see him at Everton, Crystal Palace or Newcastle being a real handful. Just keep him fit would be the theory, rather than flogging him through 40-plus games a season, which he certainly could not manage now.
So his “departure” on Monday from the payroll saw him and another five members of that Conference League- winning match squad departing for good. Vladimir Coufal, Kurt Zouma, Lukasz Fabianski, Aaron Cresswell and Danny Ings were all in that 23-man squad.
Previously Thilo Kehrer, Declan Rice, Said Benrahma, Paulo Fornals, Angelo Ogbonna, Glen Johnson, Manuel Lanzini, Flynn Downes and Divin Mubama had left the club. That’s 15 in all with the prospect of Nayef Aguerd, Emerson, Maxwel Cornet and Lucas Paqueta likely departures this window, assuming the FA finally get their finger out over Paqueta’s case with David Sullivan desperate to sell him.
So who does that leave from that history-making squad of two years ago when we start the new campaign? Well there's Alphonse Areola, Tomas Soucek, Freddie Potts and Jarrod Bowen, and I will be more than disappointed if Potter sells Soucek, but that’s another story for another day.
Those 15 departures also says something about how little we make these days on resales. Between them , those 15 players recouped just £152m, vast amounts of which was the Rice deal. Maybe that’s also for another day.
But Antonio doesn’t owe us anything. He’s given his all for this club and we should be grateful. If that substitute appearance back in December at Leicester was the last time we see Antonio pull on a West Ham shirt in anger, so be it.
Thanks for the memories Michy, and try to avoid fast cars in the future.
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