West Ham United head coach Julen Lopetegui has opened up on the Michail Antonio situation.
The Hammers head coach spoke to reporters about the Jamaica international during his pre-match press conference.
Michail Antonio will probably be out of action for 12 months at least, after being involved in a horrific car crash.
When the news broke last weekend, it shook the West Ham fans to the core.
Michail Antonio of West Ham United during the Premier League match between Newcastle United FC and West Ham United FC at St James' Park on November...
Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty Images
However, the fact that he’s recovering now is obviously great news.
What the future holds for Antonio at the London Stadium is unclear right now, but the club will continue to pay him his full salary up to the end of his current deal.
So is it possible that Antonio will ever return to first-team football at West Ham? It seems unlikely to me, but Lopetegui clearly has other ideas.
Julen Lopetegui makes astonishing Michail Antonio statement
The Spaniard addressed the media on Friday ahead of our clash with Bournemouth on Monday night.
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As he sat down to face reporters, attention quickly turned to Antonio.
And Lopetegui made a really bold statement about Micky, as quoted by West Ham Football:
Julen Lopetegui, Manager of West Ham United looks on ahead of the Premier League match between West Ham United FC and Wolverhampton Wanderers FC at...
Photo by Jack Thomas – WWFC/Wolves via Getty Images
The Spaniard said, “The most important thing is that he’s alive, he’s good. He broke his femur, but he’s going to recover for sure. He’s going to need time. It’s about time. Now it’s about time but the good news is that he has time because when you see the car was terrible, the accident, that’s why we are happy.”
“Because in the end, despite the fact we are unhappy because we lost one very important player for us, we are happy because he’s going to be ready. Now he’s strong, he’s recovered himself in the next month for sure and he’s going to be ready to be a player. The first thing is to be a man and then to be a player.“
The fact that Lopetegui has boldly insisted that Antonio will ‘recover for sure’ has absolutely baffled me.
Surely there are no guarantees about that. Antonio broke his leg and probably won’t be able to even think about returning to training for another year or so.
I’m sure that West Ham will offer the best support available for Michail Antonio going forward.
Whether that means providing him with a playing career after the end of his contract remains to be seen though.
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