Declan Rice has shared that Michail Antonio is in his thoughts after the West Ham United player was involved in a car crash.
Antonio was in a stable condition, conscious and communicating as of Saturday evening after being taken to a central London hospital after the incident in Coppice Row, Epping. Essex Police have confirmed their Roads Policing Unit will investigate what they are calling a serious collision, which they say just involved a Ferrari.
The East of England Ambulance Service told football.london they were called, with four vehicles, including a car from the Essex and Herts Air Ambulance, responding to the scene before transporting Antonio to a hospital for treatment. Rice responded to an update West Ham shared on Saturday.
"Thinking of you & your family brother. Prayers to all of you (red heart emoji) (folded hands emoji) @michailantonio" is the message he posted on his Instagram story after sharing West Ham's post.
That statement reads: "West Ham United can confirm that Michail Antonio is in a stable condition following a road traffic accident this afternoon in the Essex area. Michail is conscious and communicating and is currently under close supervision at a central London hospital.
"At this difficult time, we kindly ask everyone to respect the privacy of Michail and his family. The Club will make no further comment this evening, but will issue a further update in due course."
Rice made 182 appearances alongside Antonio while at West Ham, only playing more often with Aaron Cresswell (186 times). The now Arsenal midfielder signed his first professional contract three-and-a-half months after Antonio signed from Nottingham Forest, and they spent six years in the club's first-team squad together.
They only played against each other for the first time in their careers last weekend. Antonio and Rice both started Arsenal's 5-2 win over West Ham at the London Stadium.