Michail Antonio is trying to restart his club career by training with Leicester City in the Championship, a year after a serious car crash left his future in doubt.
The 35-year-old ex-West Ham striker broke his leg badly — his femur snapped in four places — when his Ferrari hit a tree in Epping Forest in December 2024.
Antonio has been training with Leicester this week, and because he’s a free agent, manager Marti Cifuentes may consider signing him, especially with Patson Daka soon leaving for the Africa Cup of Nations. Cifuentes said Antonio has “looked good” and is happy just to train for now.
Antonio was in the last months of his West Ham contract when the crash happened. He spent more than three weeks in the hospital after surgery and has spoken about the tough physical and mental recovery. He didn’t recover in time to play again for West Ham and was released at the end of his contract in June.
He did return to action with Jamaica in the summer and later played with West Ham’s Under-21s to build fitness. Leicester say he doesn’t show any signs of being held back by the trauma, but getting full match fitness will take time after being out for so long.
Antonio spent 10 years at West Ham and left as their all-time Premier League top scorer with 68 goals in 268 games. Starting in non-league football with Tooting & Mitcham, he’s scored more than 130 goals in over 550 matches, with spells at clubs including Reading, Southampton, Sheffield Wednesday, Nottingham Forest and then West Ham.
