Michail Antonio: The former West Ham striker moves to Al Sailiya, Qatar

Michail Antonio says he had to “swallow his ego” after a near-fatal car accident as he prepared to make his first appearance for the club in 15 months.

The 35-year-old striker, who joined Qatari club Al Sailiya, said that English club owners were wary of signing him after the accident he suffered in December 2024, which resulted in him suffering multiple leg fractures.

He returned to action with the Jamaica national team and made three appearances as a substitute in June – the only match he has played since the accident.

But Antonio told BBC Sport that he “feels like a schoolboy again” as he looks forward to proving his fitness during a two-month spell in the Qatar Stars League, where they face Al Sailiya Al Arabi on Saturday.

Antonio says he still has “a lot of love” for West Ham, for whom he made 323 appearances and became the club’s all-time top scorer in the Premier League with 68 goals, but was disappointed he did not even get the chance to come on as a substitute in a home friendly.

He says he ultimately fell out of favor with then-manager Graham Potter, and describes his exit in August as a “hard pill to swallow”.

“I still have the qualities that I had in the Premier League for the last 10 years,” Antonio said. “It’s obvious, because every manager put the contract in front of me when I trained with them.

“But there were coaches and clubs who refused to look at me because of what happened, the accident and the injury. Some owners were 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 – the clubs wanted me to train first. With the arrogance I had, I said ‘I won’t come to train. You’ve seen me play for Jamaica, you’ve seen the last 10 years. I don’t have to train to get a contract. The 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 accept my ego, and that’s how I ended up at Brentford. I trained with them for two weeks.”