Michail Antonio

Club

Watford

Position

Centre-Forward

Nationality

Jamaica

Date of birth

1990-03-28

Birthplace

London, England

Height

180 cm

Weight

181 lbs

Shirt number

9

Michail Gregory Antonio is a professional footballer and pundit who plays as a forward. He is currently a free agent having been released by West Ham United in 2025.

Antonio began his career at non-League club Tooting & Mitcham United before signing with Reading of the Championship in 2008. The club sent him on subsequent loan spells to Cheltenham Town, back to Tooting & Mitcham, Southampton and Colchester United, as he struggled to find a place in Reading's first team throughout his four-year stay at the Madejski. A final loan spell with Sheffield Wednesday resulted in a permanent move in 2012, where he went on to make 64 appearances and score 12 goals. Nottingham Forest signed him from Wednesday in 2014, where his 16 goals in 50 appearances attracted attention from West Ham United of the Premier League, who signed him in 2015, where he was deployed in a number of positions including right back, right midfielder and as a winger before eventually establishing himself as the club's main striker. On 23 August 2021, he became West Ham United's all-time top scorer in the Premier League.

In March 2016, Antonio revealed that he had rejected the opportunity to play for Jamaica internationally and that he harboured an ambition of playing for England.

On 28 August 2016, in new England manager Sam Allardyce's first squad, Antonio was called up for the first time, for a 2018 World Cup qualification match against Slovakia in Slovakia on 4 September 2016 where he was an unused substitute. On 16 March 2017, Antonio was called up by new England manager Gareth Southgate's squad for the friendly match against Germany on 22 March and the 2018 World Cup qualifier against Lithuania on 26 March; however, on 20 March, Antonio withdrew from the squad after picking up a hamstring injury.

In February 2021, Antonio was again approached by Jamaica to consider playing for them at international level. He was said to be passionate about playing and helping them reach the 2022 World Cup. In March 2021, Antonio was reported to be in the process of obtaining his Jamaican passport. On 17 March 2021, it was reported that Antonio had decided he was going to represent Jamaica internationally, ahead of the squad being announced for an upcoming international friendly against the United States. Despite this, Antonio was not included in the 19-man squad when this was announced on 17 March. The BBC reported that Antonio was still to decide whether to switch. TalkSPORT reported on the