Months after near-fatal car crash, Michail Antonio’s decade-long West Ham stint comes to an end

By Canadian Press on August 7, 2025.

Months after surviving a near-fatal car crash, Michail Antonio is a free agent after West Ham confirmed the forward would not be signing a new contract with the club.

Antonio, whose deal expired at the end of last season, has not played a competitive game for West Ham since the accident in December last year — but has since represented Jamaica on the international stage.

“Everyone at West Ham United would like to sincerely thank Michail for his outstanding, dedicated service in a claret and blue shirt over the last 10 years,” West Ham said in a statement.

The Premier League club also said it was in discussions with the 35-year-old Antonio over a future role in an “alternative capacity.”

Antonio needed surgery on a lower limb fracture after he crashed his Ferrari into a tree on a wet and windy day outside London on Dec. 7.

West Ham’s then manager Julen Lopetegui called the outcome of the crash a “miracle.”

In an interview with the BBC in March, Antonio said he was left with a “completely shattered” leg and a realization of “how close I was to dying.”

He said he broke his femur bone in four places and required an operation where surgeons “put a pole in my thigh with four bolts.”

Antonio said he was 100% certain he would play again and fulfilled that ambition when coming on as an 85th-minute substitute in Jamaica’s Gold Cup match against Guatemala in June.

He made further substitute appearances against Guadeloupe and Panama.

He scored twice for West Ham’s Under-21 development team in a game against Boreham Wood, but that has not led to a contract extension at the club he has played for since joining from Nottingham Forest in 2015.

“Michail will always be a much-loved and respected member of the West Ham United family. As has been the case since December, the Club will continue to support and assist him in his ongoing rehabilitation, offering him access to training, facilities and medical care if needed,” West Ham said.

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James Robson is at https://twitter.com/jamesalanrobson

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

James Robson, The Associated Press