Michail Antonio receives £9.5m Saudi offer over two years, deal not yet agreed with West Ham

Head of Editorial Standards & Recruitment AUTHORITY Former senior digital journalist at Stats Perform; network specialist in live data, editorial standards, and journalist recruitment. FOCUS Editorial standards, Statscore live data integration, newsroom operations, and recruitment. THE BRIEF Pete brings deep data expertise from his time at Stats Perform to oversee the network’s use of Statscore’s live data, setting the standard for how writers use it to produce original editorial content. He is also responsible for maintaining editorial standards and leading recruitment across the network.

Published on:

13 Aug 2023, 3:40 pm

West Ham forward Michail Antonio has received an offer of £9.5million (€11m) over two years from an unnamed club in Saudi Arabia, according to Tuttomercatoweb.

The online Italian publication wrote that the Jamaica striker is now evaluating the offer from the Saudi Pro League club.

It added that the proposal has not come from one of the four PIF-acquired clubs in Saudi Arabia.

And while the offer has been put forward to Antonio, an agreement would still need to be reached with West Ham.

The Hammers have thus far only officially announced the arrival of Edson Alvarez from Ajax, though deals for James Ward-Prowse and Harry Maguire are thought to be quite far along. Declan Rice and Gianluca Scamacca have left the club this window, while Lucas Paqueta is wanted by Premier League champions Manchester City.

Time is right to go

Michail Antonio is, deservedly, a hugely popular figure at West Ham.

It is no secret that West Ham have historically struggled with striker signings in the Premier League, but Antonio converted himself from a winger to lead the line and become the club's all-time leading scorer in the Premier League.

However, the former Sheffield Wednesday and Nottingham Forest player is now 33 and will be 34 in March, so his best years are probably now behind him.

West Ham may be reluctant to lose another important squad player during what has been a hugely frustrating transfer window, but if they were able to negotiate a decent fee then they will likely take it.

What is most important now for David Moyes and the club is making sure the last couple of weeks of the window are busy in terms of incomings. They have brought in very good money from Rice and Scamacca and could land another huge windfall if Paqueta is sold to City.

But it is no good having money sat in bank accounts if the squad is left thin. They need to make swift decisions on player sales, and even swifter decisions on player arrivals.

In other West Ham news, Aston Villa are ready to hijack the Hammers' move for Harry Maguire.

West Ham United

Michail Antonio