Michail Gregory Antonio ( digest 28 March 1990 ) is a master football player who plays as a forward for Premier League club West Ham United and the Jamaica national team. Antonio began his career at non-League club Tooting & Mitcham United before signing with Reading of the Championship in 2008. The club sent him on subsequent lend spells to Cheltenham Town, back to Tooting & Mitcham, Southampton and Colchester United, as he struggled to find a position in Reading ‘s first gear team throughout his four-year stay at the Madejski. A final loanword spell with Sheffield Wednesday resulted in a permanent act in 2012, where he went on to make 64 appearances and score 12 goals. Nottingham Forest signed him from Wednesday in 2014, where his 16 goals in 50 appearances attracted attention from West Ham United of the Premier League, who signed him in 2015, where he was deployed in a number of positions including right back, right midfielder and as a winger before finally establishing himself as the club ‘s chief hitter. On 23 August 2021, he became West Ham United ‘s all-time top scorer in the Premier League.
Reading: Michail Antonio
Club career [edit ]
early career [edit ]
Antonio was born in Wandsworth, Greater London. [ 3 ] He began playing football as a young at Tooting & Mitcham United Juniors at the age of 12 and remained there for six seasons. He was scouted and invited for a trial by Tottenham Hotspur at the historic period of 14, though, his mother rejected the opportunity on his behalf and he remained with Tooting and Mitcham. [ 5 ] The Juniors ‘ team was mugwump from Tooting & Mitcham United, whom he late signed for at the senesce of 17 years. He made his debut for the club in an away match against Wealdstone at the age of 18, scoring once in a 3–0 victory. [ 6 ]
Reading [edit ]
After fair a handful of first-team appearances for Tooting & Mitcham United, Antonio signed for Championship club Reading on 28 October 2008 for an undisclosed fee, signing a distribute until 2010. [ 7 ] [ 8 ] [ 9 ] He rejoined Tooting on a month-long lend spell on 9 January 2009, [ 10 ] with the lend extended for a farther month on 11 February [ 11 ] but he returned to Reading less than a week late on 17 February after being recalled by the club. [ 12 ] Following his loanword spell with Southampton in the summer of 2010, Antonio signed a bracing deal to keep him at Reading until 2013. [ 13 ] He featured more regularly in the team during the 2010–11 season, scoring one goal, against Burnley, [ 14 ] in 24 appearances in all competitions. [ 15 ]
Cheltenham Town ( loanword ) [edit ]
After being recalled from Tooting, Antonio was subsequently loaned out to League One club Cheltenham Town on a calendar month ‘s loan, commencing on 19 February. [ 16 ] He made his Football League debut in a 2–0 frustration to Leeds United on 21 February, [ 17 ] being substituted on 28 minutes after suffering from an ankle injury. [ 18 ] After spending some time out injure, Antonio would go on to make eight further appearances until the end of the season with Cheltenham. [ 19 ]
Southampton ( lend ) [edit ]
Southampton signed Antonio on loanword for one calendar month on 5 October 2009, [ 20 ] making his introduction on 9 October in a 3–1 away win at Southend United. [ 21 ] He scored his beginning finish for Southampton in the FA Cup victory over Bristol Rovers on 6 November. [ 22 ] The lend was subsequently extended until the end of the season. [ 23 ] He scored in the first stage of the Football League Trophy area final against Milton Keynes Dons, with the match finishing 1–0. [ citation needed ] He besides scored in his next appearance, a 2–1 victory over Ipswich Town in the FA Cup. [ citation needed ] He scored again in the 4–1 2010 Football League Trophy Final gain over Carlisle United at Wembley Stadium on 28 March 2010, which was his twentieth birthday, bringing Antonio his beginning silverware. [ 24 ] Antonio ‘s loanword deal finished at the end of the 2009–10 season, but both director Alan Pardew and Antonio himself expressed a desire for the winger to remain at Southampton. [ 25 ]
Colchester United ( loanword ) [edit ]
Colchester United was the following destination for Antonio, where he signed on a one-month loan on 15 August 2011. [ 26 ] He made his debut for the club the following day in a 2–0 home defeat to Charlton Athletic. [ 27 ] He scored his beginning finish for the cabaret to put the U ‘s 2–1 ahead as they finally lost in a 3–2 get the better of to Huddersfield Town on 20 August. [ 28 ] His lend spell with the baseball club was extended for another month in September [ 29 ] and then for a far calendar month in October. [ 30 ] In total, Antonio scored four goals in 15 league outings for Colchester. [ 31 ]
Sheffield Wednesday [edit ]
On 21 February 2012, Sheffield Wednesday signed Antonio on an emergency loanword deal until the end of the season. [ 32 ] His debut for the Owls came in a 1–0 victory over local rivals, Sheffield United on 26 February. [ 33 ] In his following appearance, a 4–1 gain against Bury, he scored two and set up another for forward Ryan Lowe. [ citation needed ] In the postdate match, against Bournemouth, Antonio set up the opener and scored Wednesday ‘s third in the opening ten minutes. [ 34 ] On 21 April 2012, against Carlisle United at Hillsborough, he scored a 95th-minute achiever to beat them and put Sheffield Wednesday alone one point behind local rivals United, who were in second base place. [ 35 ] He helped the Owls to promotion on the concluding day of the season by scoring the first in a 2–0 victory over already relegated Wycombe Wanderers, which led Wednesday to finish above Steel city rivals Sheffield United. [ 36 ] Antonio signed on a permanent wave footing for Sheffield Wednesday on 6 August 2012 on a four-year cover after a third base and concluding bid for the player was accepted by Reading. [ 37 ] In his first season with the club, Antonio had been leading the marking charts with nine goals, but an wound suffered in a 2–0 frustration by Cardiff City on 16 March 2013 ruled him out for the rest of the season. [ 38 ]
Nottingham Forest [edit ]
On 6 August 2014, Antonio signed a three-year contract with Nottingham Forest for a remove fee in the area of £1.5 million. [ 39 ] [ 40 ] Antonio ‘s hard shape in Forest ‘s first five league matches of the season, in which he contributed three goals and three assists, led to him being named as a candidate for the Championship ‘s Player of the Month award for August. [ 41 ] Antonio lost out on the prize to Charlton ‘s Igor Vetokele. [ 42 ] Antonio started every league match for Forest during his beginning season with the club, scoring 14 goals, and was named Forest ‘s Player of the Season on 4 May 2015. [ 43 ] On 11 August 2015, Antonio scored a brace in a 3–4 personnel casualty to League One club Walsall in the first round of the League Cup. [ 44 ] On 15 August, the winger scored the winner in a 2–1 victory at dwelling to Rotherham to open his match for the raw season. [ 45 ] Having already rejected a bid of £4 million from West Bromwich Albion for the transfer of Antonio earlier that summer, Forest received a second bid of £4 million from arch-rivals Derby County. [ citation needed ] Consequently, Antonio was left out of Forest ‘s Championship match against Charlton Athletic on 19 August 2015, with his coach Dougie Freedman citing that the winger was not “ in the good frame of judgment ” to play. [ citation needed ] however, Antonio returned for the future league match at Bolton Wanderers. [ 46 ] On 26 August, West Ham United joined the bid for Antonio, offering Forest £4 million and winger Matt Jarvis on a season-long loanword. [ 47 ]
West Ham United [edit ]
On 1 September 2015, Antonio signed for Premier League club West Ham United for around £7 million on a four-year contract with an option for a further two years. [ 48 ] He made his debut on 19 September, replacing Victor Moses in the sixtieth hour of West Ham ‘s 2–1 Premier League acquire at Manchester City. [ 49 ] In a man of the equal performance on 28 December 2015 in a 2–1 acquire, Antonio scored his first goal for West Ham. With the team losing 1–0 to Southampton, Antonio equalised when a clearance hit him and looped over Southampton goalkeeper, Maarten Stekelenburg. [ 50 ]
Read more: Willem Dafoe
On 27 February, Antonio scored the only finish in a home winnings over Sunderland. He celebrated by lying on his side and spin in a r-2, imitating a celebration by The Simpsons quality Homer Simpson in the episode “ last exit to Springfield “. [ 51 ] In his future appearance, Antonio turned-in a serviceman of the pit performance, scoring the only goal in a dwelling gain against Tottenham Hotspur. [ 52 ] He followed this with another goal in a 3–2 aside win at Everton three days late as West Ham came from two goals down. [ 53 ] In July 2016, Antonio signed a new, four-year contract with West Ham. [ 54 ] Antonio started West Ham ‘s first gear couple of the 2016–17 season in the right-back put, subsequently giving away a penalty in the early stages of the second base half, which was converted by Eden Hazard, to give Chelsea a 1–0 contribute. He was substituted not long after for Sam Byram. Chelsea went on to win 2–1. [ 55 ] In the second catch of the season, on 21 August 2016, Antonio returned to his favored position of Winger. He scored the alone goal of the peer, from a cross by Gökhan Töre, in a 1–0 acquire against Bournemouth ; West Ham ‘s first Premier League meet and goal at their newly ground, the London Stadium. [ 56 ] In April 2017, having scored nine goals for West Ham, Antonio was ruled out for the remainder of the season with what was described by director, Slaven Bilic, as a “ significant injury ”. [ 57 ] For his performances during the 2016–17 season, Antonio was named Hammer of the Year. [ 58 ] On 11 May 2017, West Ham announced that Antonio had signed a new, four-year condense. [ 59 ]
Antonio scored the first goal by a visiting player at the raw Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, on 27 April 2019, as West Ham won 1–0, becoming the first away team to win at the stadium. [ 60 ] On 11 July 2020, Antonio scored all four goals in a 4–0 win for West Ham over Norwich City, becoming the first player in West Ham ‘s history to score four goals in a one Premier League game and the inaugural West Ham player to score four goals in a game since David Cross against Tottenham in September 1981. [ 61 ] [ 62 ] On 22 July 2020, Antonio scored his tenth Premier League goal of the season, his best return in the top division of English football, in West Ham ‘s 1–1 draw with Manchester United at Old Trafford. The solution besides secured West Ham ‘s place in the Premier League for the postdate season. [ 63 ] In December 2020, Antonio signed a newfangled, three-year narrow committing himself to the club until 2023. [ 64 ] Antonio finished the 2020–21 season as West Ham ‘s joint top-scorer, aboard Tomáš Souček, with ten goals. [ 65 ]
2021–22 season [edit ]
On 15 August 2021, Antonio scored his 47th Premier League finish for the club, in a 4–2 victory away to Newcastle United, in West Ham United ‘s open match of the 2021–22 season. The goal drew him level with the baseball club ‘s all clock time criminal record top scorer in the Premier League era, Paolo Di Canio. [ 66 ] On 23 August, he scored a brace in West Ham ‘s 4–1 home winnings against Leicester City to eclipse Di Canio ‘s phonograph record. [ 67 ] His finish celebration involved him running to the substitutes ’ bench and hoisting a cardboard cut-out of himself above his heading, drawing inspiration from actors Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey in the melodious movie Dirty Dancing. [ 68 ] On 10 September 2021, he was named as Premier League Player of the Month for August 2021. [ 69 ] Antonio scored West Ham ’ s beginning finish in a 2–0 acquire against Dinamo Zagreb, on 16 September in their open game in the 2021–22 UEFA Europa League group stage. It was West Ham ’ s first goal in major european contest since 1999. [ 70 ]
International career [edit ]
In March 2016, Antonio revealed that he had rejected the opportunity to play for Jamaica internationally and that he harboured an ambition of playing for England. [ 71 ] On 28 August 2016, in new England coach Sam Allardyce ‘s inaugural team, Antonio was called up for the first fourth dimension, for a 2018 World Cup qualification match against Slovakia in Slovakia on 4 September 2016 where he was an idle stand-in. [ 72 ] On 16 March 2017, Antonio was called up by new England coach Gareth Southgate ‘s squad for the friendly couple against Germany on 22 March and the 2018 World Cup qualifier against Lithuania on 26 March ; however, on 20 March, Antonio withdrew from the team after picking up a hamstring injury. [ 73 ] In February 2021, Antonio was again approached by Jamaica to consider playing for them at international tied. He was said to be passionate about playing and helping them reach the 2022 World Cup. [ 74 ] In March 2021, Antonio was reported to be in the process of obtaining his jamaican pass. [ 75 ] On 17 March 2021, it was reported that Antonio had decided he was going to represent Jamaica internationally, ahead of the police squad being announced for an approaching international friendly against the United States. [ 76 ] Despite this, Antonio was not included in the 19-man police squad when this was announced on 17 March. [ 77 ] The BBC reported that Antonio was still to decide whether to switch. [ 78 ] TalkSPORT reported on the lapp day that he had pledged to play for Jamaica. [ 79 ] On 18 June 2021, Antonio was named in Jamaica ‘s 60-man probationary police squad for the 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup. [ 80 ] Antonio missed out on the final 23-man police squad, by virtue of not having secured his jamaican passport in time. In August 2021, The Athletic reported Antonio had received his pass, making him eligible to play for the country. [ 81 ] He was subsequently called up for a 35-man squad for approaching World Cup fixtures against Mexico, Panama and Costa Rica although COVID-19 travel restrictions do not allow him to enter either Mexico or Costa Rica. [ 82 ] [ 83 ] He debuted with Jamaica in a 3–0 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification personnel casualty to Panama on 5 September 2021. [ 84 ] His introduction lasted 70 minutes. He spent much of the game isolated with little service from his team on what was described as a hard and dry deliver. [ 85 ] Antonio scored his first finish for Jamaica in his second external appearance. In a World Cup qualifying game against El Salvador on 13 November, Antonio scored the opening goal before Alex Roldan equalised for El Salvador as the game finished 1–1. [ 86 ]
style of play [edit ]
Antonio is a player who has been touted for his versatility throughout his time at West Ham. Antonio has played as a proper back, good midfielder, winger and hitter throughout his years at the golf club. Antonio said in 2016 however that his preferable put was on the fender. [ 87 ]
personal life [edit ]
Antonio is married and has four children. [ 88 ] [ 89 ] In February 2019, Antonio suggested that clubs whose fans engage in racial misuse should be deducted points. [ 90 ] During the 2019 United Kingdom general election, Antonio endorsed Sara Kumar, the Conservative Party candidate in the West Ham constituency. [ 91 ]
career statistics [edit ]
cabaret [edit ]
- As of match played 7 December 2021
International [edit ]
- As of match played 16 November 2021[107]
National team
Year
Apps
Goals
Jamaica
2021
3
2
Total
3
2
- Scores and results list Jamaica’s goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Antonio goal.[107]
Honours [edit ]
Southampton
Sheffield Wednesday
Individual
References [edit ]
- Profile at the West Ham United F.C. website
- Michail Antonio at Soccerbase
Read more: Clint Barton (Marvel Cinematic Universe)