The striker was in the final months of his contract with West Ham United when he was involved in a serious car accident in December 2024.

Michail Antonio has opened up about feeling deserted by West Ham following a life-changing car crash in December 2024 that left him with a severe leg injury.

At the time of the accident, Antonio was nearing the end of his deal with the Hammers. The incident proved to be a turning point, resulting in a complete breakdown in his relationship with then-manager Graham Potter and ultimately bringing his decade-long spell in east London to a close.

Potter had taken over from Julen Lopetegui as the West Ham boss during Antonio’s rehabilitation. However, tensions quickly surfaced, beginning when then-chairperson Karren Brady made an unexpected contract proposal.

“Karren Brady told me that she’d offer me a £5,000-a-week deal, but with the under-21s, not the first team,” Antonio told FourFourTwo. “I said, ‘How can you offer me £5,000 a week and tell me to play for the under-21s when they’re earning more than that, and I’ve been at this club for 10 years?’ She replied, ‘Well, they haven’t been in a car crash and shattered their leg.’ I just thought, ‘Oof, OK…’ I didn’t sign the contract.”

It soon became apparent that Potter did not consider the 36-year-old part of his long-term plans.

“Graham Potter tried to stop me from coming to the training ground for the remainder of my contract because of a comment I made during a TNT appearance – the same one I’d been saying for years – about clubs treating players like meat. As soon as a player becomes expendable, the club tries to move them on. I said that on TNT, went in the next day, and Graham called me into his office.

“He said, ‘I think it’s best that you don’t come back in here.’ I told him, ‘Well, I will be, because you have a duty of care to me and I know I’m allowed to be here, so I’ll see you tomorrow.’ We had an argument, and from that day onwards, we never greeted each other or spoke again.”

Antonio, who made over 300 appearances for West Ham during his ten years at the club, admitted it hurt to be seen as a negative influence by Potter.

“Exactly,” he said. “I was there joking around with the lads, and he could see that. My personality has always been about lifting people’s spirits. Even when I didn’t have a club, some of the boys messaged me saying, ‘It would be great to have you back here.’”

Antonio went on to claim that Potter never really took the time to understand him as a person. “He just had a problem with me. He never actually knew me – he came in after my car crash, and during that time, I wasn’t around the club much. I was doing rehab in Dubai or Manchester and maybe visited the club once a month for a week, so he never got to know me.”

When asked whether he believed Potter was responsible for West Ham’s eventual relegation, Antonio did not hesitate to agree. “Definitely,” he said. “He made the decision to let go of all the senior players – me, Aaron Cresswell, Vladi Coufal, Edson Alvarez – all the leaders. Then, within a month of the season starting, he said, ‘We’ve got no leaders.’ How does that make any sense? How can you release all your leaders and then complain that there are no leaders in the dressing room? It was his own doing!”

Michail Antonio’s autobiography, Humans Not Robots, published by HarperCollins, is now available.

Chris Flanagan, Senior Staff Writer