Excited Slav: “New guys have to prove themselves”

Slaven Bilic has hailed Michail Antonio as a player “the whole club – including me – are very excited about.”

Speaking at his morning press conference ahead of the match against Newcastle, the manager said: ““The expectations are high, with Antonio he has so much to offer us, his potential is enormous.

“Not just in training or on paper, he has done it in the Championship, which is not that much below the Premier League.

“Very few English players came straight through the academy, many players come through the divisions. “The whole club, including me, are very excited about Antonio. He can make a big big impact.”

He is generally absolutely delighted with the club’s successful transfer window adding: ““I am very pleased. t is all done now.

“The guys who came have to prove themselves. I think we done really well. We got what we wanted and in the first few training sessions it is all very positive.

“They have brought what we wanted and I think they are going to do very well for us. They have the energy, motivation, they are hungry. They came here to give us extra quality.”