Former West Ham forward Antonio makes Qatar switch

Striker has not played club football for 15 months

Former West Ham forward Antonio makes Qatar switch

Michail Antonio has joined Qatar side Al-Sailiya after recovering from a serious car accident.

The 35-year-old has not had a club since leaving West Ham at the end of last season.

Antonio suffered a badly broken leg in December 2024 when his Ferrari came off the road and hit a tree in Epping Forest. He broke his femur bone in four places and spent three weeks in hospital.

United’s all-time leading Premier League goalscorer has not played club football since but did make his return to the pitch in June 2025 when he came on as an 85th-minute substitute for Jamaica in their 1-0 Gold Cup group stage defeat by Guatemala.

Antonio joined West Ham in 2015 and made 323 appearances, scoring 83 goals in all competitions – 68 of which came in the Premier League.

A long road to the top

Antonio was rejected by Brentford and QPR as a teenager and signed for Championship club Reading in 2008 after a spell with non-league Tooting.

Loan spells followed at Cheltenham Town, Southampton, Colchester United and Sheffield Wednesday – where he made a permanent switch.

West Ham paid a reported £7m to bring him to east London in 2015, and over the next decade Antonio would make 323 appearances for the club.