Former West Ham forward Michail Antonio has revealed he had to ‘swallow his ego’ in signing for Qatari club Al‑Sailiya.
The 35-year-old suffered a car crash 15 months ago that was deemed near-fatal and left him with multiple leg fractures.
He had previously trained and held talks with Brentford and Leicester over proposed contracts, but deals failed to materialise. He was then in talks to join Charlton Athletic on a short-term deal, but has now settled on a move to the Middle East.
Antonio has now opened up on the struggles of finding a club to suit his means, suggesting that sides have been wary to give him a deal following his injuries.
But the Jamaica international, who made a competitive return to action in June in the CONCACAF Gold Cup, is backing his abilities to return to his best following his crash nightmare.
‘I’ve still got the qualities I had in the Premier League for the past 10 years,’ Antonio told BBC Sport. ‘It shows, because every single manager was putting a contract in front of me once I trained with them.
Michael Antonio has completed a move to to Qatari side Al‑Sailiya 15 months on from a car crash that left him with multiple injuries
‘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.
‘My agent kept calling clubs, and the same thing happened – clubs wanted me to train first. 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”.
‘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.’
Antonio left West Ham in the summer because he wasn’t part of former manager Graham Potter’s plans.
He has been hunting for a club since amid his recovery from his crash, which he did not remember. He was close to joining Brentford, but more injury problems cropped up.
‘When I found out I’d torn my calf the day before signing for Brentford, I laid in bed for two days,’ he said. ‘First day, I was just crying. The second day, I just didn’t want to get out of bed.
‘I thought, “I’m back where I want to be, I’m back in the Premier League. I was meant to return to Leicester but they didn’t want me back in because they didn’t want a relapse on their books.
‘So I trained alone for a week and then went into Charlton.’