West Ham’s all-time leading Premier League goalscorer Michail Antonio has admitted he wanted the club to be relegated – but is now feeling bad.
Like most things at West Ham, opinion was very much divided when it came to deciding the future of Michail Antonio last summer.
In the end Graham Potter decided not to hand Antonio a new contract and the club signed his close friend Callum Wilson to replace him.
After a decade of service, becoming record scorer and as one of West Ham’s best ever signings in terms of value for money given he arrived for just £7.5m, many felt Potter and the club did not handle Antonio’s exit with the class and respect he deserved.
Antonio admits hating West Ham and wanting them relegated
Especially after he had battled back from breaking his leg in that horrific Epping Forest crash which could – by the striker’s own admission – have claimed his life.
After some punditry work on TNT Sports and unsuccessful training trials at the likes of Brentford, Antonio eventually found a new club as he played out what remained of the Qatari season with Al Sailya.
How would you DESCRIBE Michail Antonio’s West Ham career? ⚒️
Antonio finally said an emotional farewell to West Ham fans, eight long months after he left the club.
Now it has become clear why.
Because Antonio has admitted he harboured unbridled resentment towards the Hammers.
Antonio publicly shamed Potter for the way he handled his West Ham exit in an interview back in March.
Now the Jamaican has conceded his anger towards the Irons was so strong it turned to hate and he wanted to see them go down.
Antonio says he wanted the club’s owners to feel his pain at being let go by suffering relegation.
But he admitted he then started to feel bad for the fans and his old teammates when the prospect of dropping into the Championship looked like it could become a reality.
Antonio wanted Hammers owners to feel pain but regrets resentment
“At the beginning of the season, I had resentment against the club,” Antonio said on the Filthy Fellas podcast.
“Like, I hated them.
What did YOU make of Callum Wilson’s exit?
Nuno might've missed a trick…
“Obviously it has got nothing to do with the fans, it was the ownership. So I had that (resentment), and I was like, ‘the only way for the owners to feel my pain is by the club getting relegated’. So that’s, at the beginning of the season, that’s what I felt.
“But obviously, with time and stuff like that, and when I started seeing it, I was like ‘oh, this could actually happen’. And then in my mind, I was like, ‘no, I actually don’t want the club to get relegated’.
“I’ve got my boys there, and the fan base and everything. Like, I actually love the place, still to this day. And my kids support West Ham.
“So I was like, my resentment kind of left when I actually saw the realness that it actually possibly could happen.”
Sometimes when you put things out into the universe they happen.
It is sad to hear Antonio felt that way and highly controversial given he is the club’s all-time leading Premier League goalscorer.
Some would argue West Ham did a lot for Antonio after his crash, others feel he should have been given one more year.
No doubt if he gets himself fit in pre-season, Antonio will inevitably be linked with a romantic return.
Receive a digest of our best West Ham content each week direct to your mailbox
