West Ham attacker Michail Antonio available for Man Utd and Southampton games
West Ham have been handed a major selection boost for their games against Manchester United and Southampton.
According to The Daily Mail, Michail Antonio will not be travelling to any red list countries during the international break.
With regards to Premier League and EFL clubs’ joint decision to not allow players to travel to red list countries, Antonio will not fly out to Jamaica’s World Cup qualifiers against Mexico and Costa Rica, but is available for their home meeting with Panama on Sunday.
Due to this, he will avoid the ten-day quarantine rule imposed by the UK government.
Fantastic news
Having not signed a striker this summer, Hammers would’ve been in a spot of bother if Antonio was ruled out for the two games.
However, that will not happen now as the collective decision will see him avoid playing two games for his country instead of him missing the same number of games for his club.
The soon-to-be Jamaica international would’ve undoubtedly been thrilled to receive a call-up, but he would certainly understand the reasons behind this decision.
The Guardian’s Jonathan Liew wrote a feature about Antonio in February which read, “Antonio doesn’t really fit any established template: a skilled dribbler with a phenomenal leap, a muscular target man with the sophisticated touch of a midfielder, the pace of a winger, the lungs of a full-back and the shrewd off-ball movement of a penalty-box poacher.
He’s started the season so strongly and was arguably the Premier League player of the month for August.
The 31-year-old has led the line with aplomb for David Moyes’ men and we can’t wait to see him back in action in the Premier League in two weeks.
In other West Ham news, ‘Perfect’ – talkSPORT pundit gushes over ‘Brilliant’ West Ham ace in win v Leicester
Be sure to follow West Ham Zone on Facebook and Twitter for 24/7 updates on the Hammers and more exclusive interviews with Frank McAvennie.