Michail Antonio has joined Qatar side Al-Sailiya after recovering from a serious car accident. The 35-year-old has not had a club since leaving West Ham at the end of last season. Antonio suffered a badly broken leg in December 2024 when his Ferrari came off the road and hit a tree in Epping Forest. He broke his femur bone in four places and spent three weeks in hospital.
Michail Antonio is set to sign a short-term deal with Qatar's AlSailiya before his return to club football following a near-fatal car crash. The former West Ham striker had been training with Charlton Athletic and held exploratory talks with the Championship club over a pay-as-you-play deal. But the 35-year-old is poised to sign for Qatari Stars League club AlSailiya until the end of their season, which has six games left.
Starting with the hosts, while West Ham might have suffered a dramatic collapse away at local rivals Chelsea last week as they eventually fell to a 3-2 loss at Stamford Bridge, Nuno Espírito Santo saw his resurgent squad claim an immediate response on Saturday afternoon. Claiming a deserved 2-0 victory against Burnley, the former Nottingham Forest boss has seen his squad turn a major corner over the past few weeks.
The absence of the wantaway Lucas Paqueta has given Mateus Fernandes a chance to take on more responsibility for West Ham. Paqueta, who is said to be nursing a minor back problem, was unavailable again for last week's win against Spurs but Nuno Espirito Santo's struggling side coped without the Flamengo target. They called on Fernandes to dictate the flow in midfield and the diligent Portuguese did not disappoint.
Valentin Castellanos, who joined from Lazio earlier this month, scored the winner in the first half of extra-time, with other new recruit Pablo Felipe also playing his part. West Ham's January spending has already hit a reported £47m, and Nuno explained that the team need more new additions if they are to recover from their poor start.
He said on talkSPORT: John McGinn again, another good performance from John. You know what you're going to get from John every week. People must look at John McGinn and get a buzz because he always gives 100 per cent. He's got quality as well, there's no doubt about that, but the desire to play is fantastic. You need John McGinn at West Ham at the moment, he'd get people going there.
