Antonio pledges an August return

Michail Antonio has broken a long silence – just a few hours after being linked with Crystal Palace – to declare his loyalty to the Hammers.

The 2017 Hammer of the Year claimed on the official website: “I’m feeling good. The recovery from my operation is going well so I’m just going to keep moving on with it.

“I probably have another three months until I’m back training fully, so hopefully I’ll be back playing in August.”

He watched delighted as the team secured their position in the Premier League saying: “It’s the holy grail to stay in the Premier League, so it’s great [that we’ve secured safety]. Hopefully next year we can do better.

“It was a great performance at Leicester. We didn’t give them much of an opportunity, we bossed the game, scored in the first half and sealed it off with Mark Noble’s finish.

“It was a great strike from him into the bottom corner.”