Soccer (FIFA)
fromwww.caughtoffside.com
4 days agoWest Ham favourites to land former Man City star
West Ham prioritizes Bayer Leverkusen's Aleix Garcia for summer transfer amid relegation battle.
I had lunch with Sam Allardyce, but he thought it was a better idea to talk about wine than to talk about football, and then to get up and leave me halfway through our meeting.
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.
"He is someone I obviously know well from our time together at Wolves, and I am looking forward to working with him again. Adama is someone who knows the Premier League very well. His unique qualities as a player will help us between now and the end of the season. He will give us a different option in attacking areas. He is also very motivated to fight for us and ready to bring energy, commitment and determination to our challenge."
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.