Michail Antonio is now a massive odds on bet to leave the club before the sumer is out.
The arrival of Andriy Yarmolenko and imminent alleged appearance of Felipe Anderson looks to have made the former Nottingham Forest man surplus to Hammers requirements.
Crystal Palace have had a long reported interest and both they and Burnley are reported to be in the chase for him with the south east London club favourites to get him.
He is 1/4 to move on with the Palace being quoted at 1/3 as his next most likely destination. Sean Dyche’s Burnley are a distant 8/1 on the Sky Bet book to get the 28 year old.
Antonio came back to squad training in Switzerland this month and is one of a number of Hammers stars who are represented by Unique Sports Management.
That group also looks after the interests of Cheik Kouyate and Pedro Obiang who are both reported to be on the Hammers for sale list.
Mistake
The club need to raise funds if what is reported about Anderson is true, lets hope DS can take leaf out of the Lazio book and extricate as much value as possible.
I’m in too minds about the sale of antonio. I like him as a character, but Im not sure he’s a team player. He’s a bit too up himself at times as demonstrated by his goal celebrations which are as individual as his play is most of the time. He is often in situations where he could pass to someone in a better position but he nearly always chooses to go it alone and often we lose the ball to the opposition as a result of his poor choices. It makes him unpredictable though I admit and sometimes he can force his way through with brute strength and pace and sheer desire to score. That’s his strongest asset. When it comes to getting us playing as a team though he’s not the most technically gifted, not a great passer, not a great crosser. Good in one on one situations where he goes it alone. Good at getting on the end of crosses at the far post or the near post. Is he better than Yarmolenko or Anderson though? If it was the Antonio the proven goal scorer from his player of the season I’d have to think about keeping him but my fear is after last years injury plagued season and his double hamstring I’m not sure were going to see the old Antonio anymore. His game is built on sprint speed and strength and once the old hamstrings start going it’s not good. If by selling him we fund upgrades in the form of players like Anderson and Yarmolenko, if were going to have an overhaul and fresh start with players that play the pellegrini way then maybe it wouldn’t be a mistake to let Antonio go.
There is something to what you say , Clive . But I think he has more positive attributes than negative ones .
I have never seen Anderson or Yarmolenko play , nor many of the other new signings for that matter . Hard to make an opinion without any evidence in my case . Hope we can come to an agreement with Declan Rice though . But , all in all if these are the players that Pellegrini wants then we must put our trust in him . Never seen in all my years as a West Ham United Fan so many exciting summer signings .. it’s unprecedented and a bit of a shock to be honest . It’s virtually a new team . Let’s hope we are all very pleasantly surprised this season and can start to have less of a nervous time .
COYHAMMERS
I agree fella,Antonio needs to stay otherwise we’re relying on Yarmolenko or Anderson( if and when we finally agree a deal for him) to perform,it they don’t..? No building a team is different to creating a competitive squad,with proper competition for places,or we can sell and hope,for the window to be a success we need to keep our best players or risk being light on numbers again.COYI
I would be sad to lose Antonio – and also to lose both Obiang and Kouyate
Anyway Pellegrini has promised to look at all players – so lets see what he decides. With any new signing from outside the Premier League there is the risk of them taking time to settle in
I will reserve my enthusiasm until I see us winning some PL games