Declan Rice has delivered a brutally honest Michail Antonio verdict which may hurt the West Ham star’s pride but is spot on.
It says a lot about West Ham’s fortunes since the launch of the Premier League in 1992 that Antonio is the club’s all-time leading goalscorer of this era.
It will, rightly, be an immense source of pride for Antonio having gone from non-league to Premier League, setting such records at a big club like West Ham in the process.
The fact is made even more remarkable given Antonio was played at right-back for a spell by ex Hammers boss Slaven Bilic.
With £45m striker signing Sebastien Haller struggling to make his West Ham move work, David Moyes made the bold move to convert Antonio from an inconsistent winger to a striker feared across the top flight – just as he had done with Marko Arnautovic during his first spell in east London.
Antonio’s goals and output – and West Ham’s meteoric rise since – are proof enough that it worked.
But the Hammers star will be the first to admit his form – and that of the team – dropped off a cliff from November last year and has never truly recovered.
West Ham had got away with murder relying so heavily on Antonio with no back-up, especially given his history of injury issues.
A barren January window meant something simply had to be done in the summer. And Moyes finally ended an 18-month search for a new striker when he signed Gianluca Scamacca for £35m.
The Italian has been a revelation so far and West Ham fans have remarked how great it is to finally have a proper, bona fide striker up front.
Antonio had taken great pride in being West Ham’s main man up front. So much so he demanded the number nine shirt and took on the responsibility of being the club’s goalscorer with relish.
For that he will always be fondly remembered in east London, make no mistake.
But as West Ham fans rejoice in finally having a genuine top level striker up front, so too it seems are the club’s players.
Declan Rice has delivered a brutally honest Michail Antonio verdict which may hurt the West Ham star’s pride but is spot on.
The Hammers skipper has been speaking to talkSPORT about West Ham’s new forward Scamacca.
And Rice has stated that Antonio simply never has been a natural born striker.
Declan Rice delivers brutally honest Michail Antonio verdict which may hurt West Ham star’s pride but is spot on
“I’ve played with (Michail) Antonio for so many years and he’s done so many good things for this club,” Rice told talkSPORT.
“But he was never an out and out striker. He’s been made into a striker.
“Whereas Gianluca is the first out and out striker I’ve played with at club level and he’s just on another level.”
Antonio will always be loved at West Ham. And while he may not like to hear this from Rice, the captain is spot on.
The Jamaican has a new role with the Hammers now, coming on to make an impact as a substitute.
And he undoubtedly still has a big part to play this season. But Rice is right and if Scamacca sticks around long enough – and is put on penalties! – then it is surely only a matter of time until he takes Antonio’s goalscoring record too.
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