What should have been a natural end to a happy marriage is threatening to be a messy divorce between Michail Antonio and West Ham after he aimed a brutal dig at the club.
It is now nine days since Graham Potter confirmed Michail Antonio would be leaving West Ham United after 10 memorable years.
Antonio is one of the best bargain signings in the history of West Ham having arrived as a £7.5m signing from Nottingham Forest back in 2015.
The Jamaican went on to play in all manner of positions for the Hammers, including right-back, before cementing his place as the club’s main striker.
Antonio saw off one big money striker signing after another as he led the line for West Ham, becoming the club’s record Premier League goalscorer in the process.
Antonio’s Hammers fairy-tale to have messy ending?
That record will fall to Jarrod Bowen either this season or next, but Antonio’s place in West Ham’s history is assured.
Many Hammers fans felt the much-loved character deserved another contract after fighting back from breaking his leg in four places in that horror car crash last December.
But reports claim Antonio snubbed West Ham’s offer of a pay-as-you-play deal based on appearances.
Since then Antonio has been replaced by his good friend and old podcast partner Callum Wilson in a hugely controversial move by the Hammers.
Given he is more injury-prone than Antonio, has a chequered history with the club’s fans and is 34 next season himself, Wilson is hardly the young, dynamic replacement West Ham supporters had in mind when their long-serving star departed.
West Ham officially announced Antonio’s departure on August 7th, four days ago.
The Hammers scored a big own goal with some fans by announcing Wilson would be taking his number nine shirt on the same day.
Now Antonio has aimed a brutal parting shot at West Ham as the club’s fans still await his farewell message.
When a long-serving player leaves any club, there is almost always an open letter or video message to the fans.
There have been some emotional scenes in recent years in that regard from Mark Noble to Declan Rice and from Pablo Fornals, Aaron Cresswell and Vladimir Coufal to Lukasz Fabianski.
The tears have flowed.
Antonio aims brutal parting shot at West Ham
Antonio’s long-anticipated goodbye message promises to be among the most heart-wrenching yet given what he has been through personally and the journey West Ham fans have been on with him as a superb servant to the football club.
Yesterday Antonio’s future off the pitch was revealed as TNT Sports announced he is joining their football punditry team alongside the likes of Gareth Bale.
https://www.instagram.com/tntsportsfootball/p/DNK-5zCs1GD/
What that means for his football career remains to be seen after it was claimed during negotiations with the Hammers that he had several offers from other clubs.
Now in his first outing interview since leaving the club, Antonio has broken his silence on his West Ham departure and has aimed a dig at the club, suggesting they showed him little loyalty.
West Ham fans still await Antonio farewell message
Antonio also states that the way his Hammers exit panned out proves everything comes down to money in the modern game.
It comes as West Ham supporters still await a farewell message or video from the fan-favourite four days after his exit was officially confirmed and announced by the club.
“People are going to love it or are going to hate what I’m going to say, but I’m going to say it either way,” he told FourFourTwo when using his situation to justify Aleksander Isak’s desire to leave Newcastle for Liverpool.
“As a player, loyalty in the game has really gone.
“Obviously I was at West Ham for 10 years, like all these players, that [loyalty] doesn’t really last anymore, and I feel rightly so, because end of the day, clubs no longer treat players like they used to either.
“So, because of that reason, why should the player be loyal to a club? I understand being loyal to fans, but being loyal to a club when he’s going to try and better himself and better his life and try and achieve things that he’s not going to achieve at another club..
“We are meat to them. As soon as we start going stale, it’s time to sell or throw away. Before, if a player was at a club for a few years, you see the human side of that player – now it’s all about money, and how much money can they make [for] the club.
“And that’s where it’s got to, so if a club is going to think about the money side of things, why shouldn’t a player?”
Hammers News understands West Ham want to welcome Antonio back to the London Stadium for a game to receive a proper farewell from fans.
It remains to be seen whether relations are amicable enough for that to transpire.
The delay in Antonio’s message could be simply that he is taking his time to get it right.
Or perhaps he is simply too angry and upset with the way things have ended to put his mind to that right now.
His strong words in this interview may suggest the latter. But time is a great healer and the the message to fans should come soon enough in some shape or form.
