Scout Report – Michail Antonio

West Ham United’s capture of Nottingham Forest winger, Michail Antonio was one part of a quartet of deadline day deals which saw Slaven Bilic significantly bolster his squad options.

The likes of Alex Song, Nikica Jelavic and Victor Moses all arrive with top flight experience but, while it’s fair to say that Antonio is an unknown quantity at Premier League level. Despite this, potentially, he undoubtedly has the ability to excite West Ham fans and Fantasy Football managers alike.

The 25-year-old signed on for a undisclosed fee, believed to be in the region of £7 million, with club sealing his services on a four-year deal.

Antonio himself was clearly delighted with the move and confident that he could translate his game to the top flight with the East London club…

“I’m buzzing and finally happy to be back in London at a massive club…I’ve worked my way from non-league and finally got to the Premier League to show what I can do, and if the fans don’t know me from the Championship, what I bring to the table is pace, power and goals, so hopefully I can do that this season. I can’t wait for the challenge of playing in the Premier League. It was one of the things growing up, where I wanted to be, testing myself against the best competition and, seeing West Ham’s result of winning 3-0 at Anfield, it shows I’m coming to a great team that’s established in the Premier League. Hopefully I can put my mark down here at the club.”

The History

Antonio began his career in grass roots football, learning his trade from the age of 12 at Tooting & Mitchem and scoring on his senior debut for the club at 17.

A move to Championship side Reading followed in 2008 which was followed by loan spells back at Tooting, Cheltenham Town and Southampton. Antonio did enough during this period to earn a new contract at Reading and, in the 2010-11 season, began to make an impact for the Royals, registering 24 appearances.

A further loan spell with Colchester followed, before Antonio was lent out to Sheffield Wednesday in 2012 in an emergency season-long loan deal. It was at Hillsborough that Antonio first began to show his potential.

After scoring five goals in 14 appearances for Wednesday, they sealed his services on a permanent basis later in 2012.

Eight goals and nine assists from 40 appearances demonstrated that Antonio’s career had gone up a gear. He followed that with four goals and three assists in 25 appearances in 2013/14, despite suffering two prolonged spells out through injury.

His displays were enough to tempt attention from Nottingham Forest, who captured him in August 2014 for a fee of £1.5 million.

From that point on, Antonio grew into a fearsome, goalscoring winger and one of the most effective players at Championship level.

His debut season on the Trent garnered 14 goals and 12 assists from 48 apperances, ensuring that Forest were to receive huge interest in the winger over the summer once the club were hit by a transfer embargo.

Forest’s ability to fend off offers finally succumbed with West Ham’s bid as Antonio made the way to the Boleyn Ground, having continued his superb form, notching four goals and an assist in just five appearances.

The Prospects

In many ways, Antonio is the antithesis of Victor Moses. He’s a player who has successfully translated his considerable pace and power into an end product – albeit at a lower level.

“Barnstorming” is undoubtedly the most effective way of describing Antoinio’s methods. He has the physical presence of a cruiserweight boxer, making him incredibly difficult to get off the ball and surprisingly formidable in aerial duels when he drifts into the box. He couples with pace and a touch which defies his size.

He can play as an othordox winger, hugging the line and supplying crosses but it quickly became clear that Antonio was far more than that.

Forest became very aware of how to use his talents. At Championship level, Antonio knew that defences could rarely cope with his pace and power and, on receiving the ball, looked to run directly at the back four, often cutting inside from his left-flank position. Once near goal, Antonio somewhat perfected his long-range shooting, making him an incredibly dangerous weapon. Antonio is goal of the month material.

It’s obviously debatable whether he can translate all this to a more cultured and disciplined arena.

Top flight Defenders will mark Antonio tightly and his technical ability and first touch will be far more of a factor. His propensity to cut inside with the ball may be restricted by more organised defences, screened by holding midfielders in a 4-2-3-1 setup.

Even so, there’s no denying that Antonio is the most exciting prospect amongst West Ham’s four signings from a Fantasy perspective. Potentially the most exciting deadline day deal struck.

Tantalisingly priced at 6.0 in the Fantasy Premier League, Antonio has been put in the same bracket as Bournemouth’s Matt Ritchie. Perhaps fitting for a player who has proved similarly as effective at Championship level.

Antonio’s game is far more direct, however, which could give him the chance to deliver immediate returns in a West Ham side orchestrated by Dimitri Payet and blessed with natural goalscorers to feed off the service and havoc he provides.

Further Reference

Michail Antonio Wikipedia
Michail Antonio Transfer Market Page
Michail Antonio’s 2014-15 Goals