Clubs didn’t want me — West Ham’s PL leading scorer reveals multiple rejections after surviving near-fatal crash

Michail Antonio has opened up about the painful reality of life after his near-fatal car crash, revealing that Premier League clubs and owners repeatedly turned him away because of the injury, forcing the West Ham all-time leading scorer to “swallow his ego” before finally securing a move to Qatar.

The 35-year-old striker, who holds West Ham’s Premier League goalscoring record with 68 goals in 323 appearances for the club, survived a horror crash in December 2024 when his Ferrari spun off the road and hit a tree in Epping Forest during Storm Darragh.

He fractured his leg, including shattering his femur - in four places, spent weeks in hospital and underwent surgery.

The former Hammers star has no memory of the accident itself. Antonio made his last senior appearance for West Ham on 3 December 2024 in a 3-1 defeat at Leicester.

After his contract expired, he was not part of new manager Graham Potter’s plans for the 2025-26 season and trained with the club’s Under-21s while continuing rehabilitation.

Speaking to the BBC, Antonio described the mental toll of trying to find a new club far outweighed the physical recovery.

“The hardest part wasn’t the recovery,” he said. “It was the knockbacks. I’ve still got the qualities I had in the Premier League for the past 10 years. ,

"It shows, because every single manager was putting a contract in front of me once I trained with them.

"But there were managers and clubs who refused to look at me because of what happened — the accident, the injury. Some owners went against it. In football, the manager can want you, but it’s the owner’s money,”Antonio said before admitting his pride initially got in the way.

His agent contacted clubs across the Premier League and Championship, but many demanded he prove his fitness in training.

“With the ego I had, I said: ‘I’m not coming to train. You’ve seen me play with Jamaica, you’ve seen my past 10 years. I shouldn’t have to train to get a contract.’ Clubs said: ‘If you don’t train, we won’t sign you.’”He eventually relented.

“After staying at West Ham, training with the under-21s and going away with Jamaica again, my agent said: ‘You’re going to have to train, prove your fitness.’ I had to swallow my ego — that’s how I ended up at Brentford. I trained with them for two weeks.”

The move to Brentford collapsed dramatically when Antonio tore his calf the day before he was due to sign. “I laid in bed for two days,” he recalled.

A proposed return to Leicester also fell through, with the club reportedly unwilling to risk a relapse appearing on their books. Antonio trained alone for a week before linking up with Championship side Charlton, where a pay-as-you-play deal was “basically done”.

A call from his Jamaica international teammate Mason Holgate, who plays for Al-Sailiya, was the click that changed everything. The Qatari club, needing a striker after an injury to their first-choice forward, offered Antonio a two-month deal until the end of the season.

Antonio made three substitute appearances for Jamaica in June 2025, his only competitive football since the crash, and is now preparing for his first club outing in 15 months.

The former Premier League star insists the move to the Middle East is not about money but about getting regular games and staying fit. “Whatever happens in the summer, happens. I need to focus on the first goal, playing games and being fit. If I stay fit, I’ll perform and score goals. I feel like the best possibility of staying fit is out here rather than playing Tuesdays and Saturdays.”

Antonio still speaks with huge affection for West Ham, where he rose from non-league Tooting & Mitcham through the English pyramid to become a club legend. He has expressed gratitude for the support he received during his long rehabilitation.

With Jamaica still in contention for World Cup qualification via play-offs later this month, the veteran forward is determined to prove the doubters wrong, starting with his new chapter in Qatar.