Michail Antonio set for return amid West Ham contract standoff
Michail Antonio hopes to return to action in the next few weeks, six months after the West Ham United forward broke his leg in a car crash.
The 35-year-old has earmarked playing for Jamaica in the Concacaf Gold Cup, which takes place from June 14 to July 6 in Canada and the United States. Jamaica will play Guatemala a week on Tuesday followed by Guadeloupe and Panama in Group C.
Antonio is keen to play in the tournament to prove that he has returned to fitness and earn a new contract at West Ham. His deal, worth more than £90,000 a week, expires this month and he has rejected the club's offer of a short-term contract, which included a modest basic wage and further money on appearances. He wants more guaranteed money in a longer-term deal.
The impasse over the contract might be one reason Antonio took to social media on Sunday to hint he could be leaving. He posted a picture of him clutching the Conference League trophy, won by the club in 2023, and a video charting his recovery from the car crash.
His £260,000 grey Ferrari went off the road and hit a tree during Storm Darragh in Epping Forest, Essex, on December 7 after West Ham training. He broke his femur bone in four places and after surgery was discharged from hospital on New Year's Eve.
The posted footage begins showing the wreckage of his Ferrari, with a voice asking how he escaped. It then shows him initially shuffling, then walking, using crutches through to the later stages of his rehabilitation, including working with the ball at the club's training ground in Essex.
The video is set to inspirational comments from motivational speaker Inky Johnson. 'Faith will overcome all challenges,' Antonio writes in the caption of the video.
Antonio said he was '100 per cent sure' he would play again despite the severity of his injury. In May he told L'Equipe: 'The question is whether the club wants to extend my contract. That's my priority, but I'm waiting. Until then, all I can do is focus on my recovery so that, wherever I am next year, I can deliver.'
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