Darren Bent and Andy Goldstein baffled by ‘weird’ Michail Antonio news away from West Ham United
Darren Bent and Andy Goldstein have been left baffled by the news that West Ham striker Michail Antonio lost his passport during the international break.
Jamaica head coach Steve McClaren revealed that the 34-year-old striker has not travelled to the United States ahead of their CONCACAF Nations League quarter-final second-leg on Tuesday 19 November [Jon Arnold].
Antonio was already serving a suspension for the first leg, with the Reggae Boyz losing 1-0 to the USA on Friday 15 November and now he is set to return to the London Stadium without playing a single minute of football during the break.
Reacting to the news via talkSPORT on Monday (18 November, 6:28pm), Bent said: “It is a bit weird, isn’t it?”, to which Goldstein said: “Surely, when you go away on international duty, all the passports get taken in by the secretary so you can’t lose them, right?
Bent responded: “It depends. You’re right, sometimes the player liaison might look after all the passports so you don’t have to worry about them. At some clubs I’ve been at, you look after your own.
Goldstein finally finished by saying: “If you’ve got a load of footballers, the chances are that some of them are really stupid. You’ve got to take them all to avoid that problem, right?”
Michail Antonio set to return to West Ham United unscathed
Julen Lopetegui will be pretty chuffed with the news that Antonio has failed to play any competitive football during the international window, especially with a clash against Newcastle United up next.
While the striker has only notched one goal and one assist in the Premier League this season, he has started nine of the Hammers’ 11 matches so far and remains an important figure in East London.
His all-round play is still very much appreciated, with the likes of Jarrod Bowen, Lucas Paqueta, Mohammed Kudus and Crysencio Summerville able to bounce off his work rate in the final third.
Obviously, Niclas Fullkrug is not an option for Lopetegui, and Danny Ings has clearly failed to convince the new manager after being left on the bench by David Moyes.
Antonio is the only real option in the striker position right now, which has meant many fans now calling for the Hammers to dip back into the transfer market in January.
In other West Ham news, the Hammers want to sign a 38G/A Serie A forward whose price tag could rise above £50million.
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