Michail Antonio ‘pushing hard’ for West Ham United exit as Celtic and Leeds United lead transfer race
Michail Antonio is “pushing hard to leave” West Ham this summer and has “no shortage of suitors” according to FootballTransfers.
The outlet reported on their website on Monday (7 August) that the 33-year-old wants a move away and “chief among” his suitors are Leeds United and Celtic, with only a “small fee” required to land him as he has just a year left on his Hammers contract.
The relegated English side and the Scottish Champions are both said to be “keen” on the Jamaica international, with Saudi interest possibly still on the cards as well, but manager David Moyes is expected to “block any potential exit before a proper replacement is found”.
That could be easier said than done with the Hammers still having signed nobody so far this summer, although they are finally set to change that with Edson Alvarez from Ajax in midfield.
Moyes has already seen his striking options depleted with Gianluca Scamacca’s exit confirmed on Monday, after the Italian also made it clear he wanted to leave in an interview with Gazzetta dello Sport on 12 July, albeit to Roma rather than Atalanta where he has gone.
Veteran left-back Aaron Cresswell has apparently resorted to a direct plea to owner David Sullivan to let him go, while forgotten man Nikola Vlasic went public with his own desire to depart speaking to Tuttosport on 28 July, and is set to return to Torino [Sky Sports, 7 August].
Exodus?
All is clearly not well at West Ham at the moment, and while it is easy for the situation to be overblown from the outside it isn’t too hard to see why.
It is getting difficult to escape the conclusion that the Europa Conference League triumph, historic as it was, helped gloss over a messy situation.
Moyes spent most of last season battling to keep his job while the Irons looked like they might get relegated along with Leeds.
The Scot is back on the hot seat already without another official game being played after the win over Fiorentina, as his clashes with new technical director Tim Steidten have helped contribute to repeated failings in the transfer market.
Alvarez coming in is a start but only partly replaces £105m former captain Declan Rice, who himself was intent on leaving to Arsenal.
That so many other players seem to want out for various reasons doesn’t paint a picture of harmony at the London Stadium, and while Scamacca is now gone and Vlasic should be soon, it is looking harder for Antonio and Cresswell.
But keeping unhappy players, who might justifiably argue that at their age and after years of solid service they have earned a move, just because the hierarchy is proving incapable of signing replacements is hardly a solution.
Both the veterans are professionals and have stuck to their tasks despite previous links to moves, but will need replacing anyway, and it is not a ringing indictment of the recruitment department at the London Stadium that Antonio has remained the de facto top striker year after year despite big money being spent.
Him leaving would leave only three-goal Danny Ings and youngster Divin Mubama, so he still looks key unless the club can finally hit on a top-level signing.
In other West Ham news, the Irons want to win a “transfer battle” against a Premier League rival by offering more money to snap up a Chelsea man.