Michail Antonio is in a stable condition after being involved in a car crash, West Ham have confirmed.
Pictures emerged on social media of a seriously damaged Ferrari reported to be Antonio’s from a crash in Essex on Saturday.
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West Ham have now announced the 34-year-old is conscious and communicating in a central London hospital.
A statement read: “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.”
West Ham earlier offered their thoughts and prayers for Antonio, his family and friends, with teammates and Premier League clubs quick to follow suit.
This includes Vladimir Coufal and ex-defender Anton Ferdinand, who replied with hearts and praying hand emojis.
A social media post from Arsenal read: “Everyone at Arsenal sends their love, support and well wishes to Michail, his family and West Ham United.”
Chelsea said: “The thoughts of everyone at Chelsea FC are with Michail and his family.”
A message from Liverpool read: “The thoughts and prayers of everyone at LFC are with Michail and his family.”
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West Ham’s update drew relief in the talkSPORT studio as co-hosts Jason Cundy and Jamie O’Hara reacted to the news that Antonio is in a stable condition.
“That’s the best news today,” said Cundy.
O’Hara added: “Yeah, really positive news. There was a lot of worried people out there after seeing some images of his car online – we don’t know whether it was his car or not, but it looked pretty serious.”
Cundy went on: “The fact that that statement has been released by West Ham so soon after the first statement tells me that it’s nothing but good news.”
O’Hara said: “We’re all football fans and we have our teams and rivalries but we all stick together when it comes to football players. Michail Antonio is a great football player.
“We wish him all the best and hope he comes back.”
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Antonio was involved in a less serious car crash in 2019 on Christmas Day.
The Jamaica star has scored 83 goals for West Ham in 323 games, becoming their all-time leading Premier League goalscorer and a hugely popular character, both on and off the pitch.
The striker last featured for the Hammers in the 3-1 defeat to Leicester on Tuesday night.
West Ham are due to face Wolves in the Premier League on Monday night.
Antonio began his career with seventh tier side Tooting and Mitcham United, during which time he worked part-time as a lifeguard, before being handed his big break with Reading in 2008.
While Antonio’s move to Reading was a career-changing moment, there were plenty more ups and downs as he was loaned out to five different clubs in four years with the Championship side.
This included an brief return to Tooting and Mitcham, before ultimately proving himself at Sheffield Wednesday in the last of his loan spells, which earned him a permanent move in 2012.
It was at this point that Antonio’s career began to take off, as he was snapped up by Nottingham Forest two years later, where he netted 14 Championship goals from the wing in his debut season.
A £7million transfer to West Ham would follow in the 2015 summer transfer window, where he has become a club legend.
