Michail Antonio has explained how he fought off £75m duo Gianluca Scamacca and Sebastien Haller at West Ham.
When West Ham signed Michail Antonio as a winger from Nottingham Forest for £7.5m in 2014 little did he or we know he would go on to become the club’s history maker.
Converted from a winger to right-back by Slaven Bilic and then to a striker by David Moyes, Antonio has sealed his place in history as West Ham’s all-time top Premier League goalscorer.
Although Hammers fans will be hoping that particular record falls to Jarrod Bowen within the next seven years.
The fact Antonio – at nearly 34 – remains West Ham’s first choice striker is both a credit to him and a somewhat damning indictment of the club’s search for a striker who can take the team’s game to a different level.
Over £75m was spent on Sebastien Haller and Gianluca Scamacca to try and find that man. Haller was signed for £45m from Eintracht Frankfurt before being sold for just £20m. Scamacca was brought in for an initial £30m and offloaded a year later for £25m.
While both have been and gone but Antonio remains.
Now Antonio has explained how he fought off £75m duo Scamacca and Haller at West Ham.
“It’s been weird because every single year I’ve had to prove myself again,” Antonio told the club’s official website.
“Different managers come in, or the manager who had been here the year before was looking to bring someone in because I’m not the prettiest footballer, and I know who I am, so I understand that.
“Every time someone comes in, they want to bring in someone who is a better tactician or someone else who looks better but, at the end of the day, when I step on the field, I know what I bring and I know what I can do and, at the end of the day, every manager who sees the positives that I can bring to the team and every manager starts using me.”
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