David Moyes will not sanction Michail Antonio exit at West Ham without a replacement signed first
West Ham boss David Moyes is keen to get a striker in before allowing Michail Antonio to leave, according to the Daily Mail.
The newspaper reported online (28 August) that the 33-year-old is attracting interest from Saudi Arabian side Al-Ettifaq, who are managed by Liverpool legend Stevan Gerrard.
Talks between the Hammers and Gerrard’s club were put on hold previously this summer and the Saudi side have now returned for the Jamaica international. As previously reported by FootMercato journalist Santi Auona via Twitter (28 August) there has been contact between Antonio and Al-Ettifaq, and the East London side are open to selling their striker.
However, as reported in the Daily Mail, before sanctioning this sale Moyes wants a new striker, after already losing Gianluca Scamacca this summer.
Strange
After the start that West Ham, and Antonio in particular, have made to the Premier League season, it seems very odd that they would now allow the former Nottingham Forest man to leave. The club’s Premier League record goalscorer has already scored twice this season, during impressive victories over Chelsea and Brighton.
He is in good form and with limited options at the club, it seems strange that they are even entertaining a departure. The report that Moyes would only allow a move after signing a replacement first makes more sense, but this still seems like a gamble.
Antonio has been with the club for many years now and is settled. By allowing him to leave and bringing in a new forward, that replacement could end up having a similar season to the one Scamacca had last year and all of a sudden Moyes would be left with an out-of-form frontman that could threaten to derail their season, which has started so well.
For now, it seems sense to keep hold of Antonio and see where they end up.
In other West Ham news, one of the club’s stars is subject to interest from a top European side.