"My agent kept calling clubs, and the same thing happened - clubs wanted me to train first. With the ego I had, I said, 'I'm not coming to train. You've seen me play with Jamaica, you've seen my past 10 years. I shouldn't have to train to get a contract.' Clubs said, 'if you don't train, we won't sign you'."
"After staying at West Ham, training with the under-21s and going away with Jamaica, my agent said, 'you're going to have to train and prove your fitness.' I had to swallow my ego - that's how I ended up at Brentford. I trained with them for two weeks."
Michail Antonio, West Ham's all-time leading Premier League scorer with 68 goals, has joined Qatar Stars League side Al-Sailiya. The 35-year-old striker has been sidelined since a December 2024 car accident that caused multiple leg fractures. Released by West Ham in August, Antonio struggled to find a new club in England despite his competitive appearance with Jamaica at the 2025 Gold Cup. Initially resistant to trial periods, Antonio eventually trained with Brentford for two weeks to demonstrate fitness before securing the Al-Sailiya deal. The club currently sits 10th in the 12-team Stars League.
Read at Soccer News
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]