Striker Michail Antonio is preparing for a potential restart in his career with Leicester City in the Championship, nearly a year after a car crash raised doubts about his playing future.
Striker Michail Antonio is preparing for a potential restart in his career with Leicester City in the Championship, nearly a year after a car crash raised doubts about his playing future.
The 35-year-old former West Ham forward suffered a severe leg injury when his Ferrari collided with a tree in Epping Forest in December 2024, leaving his femur broken in four places.
This week, Antonio has been training with Leicester and is available as a free agent for Foxes manager Marti Cifuentes. The Spaniard may consider the striker in the absence of Patson Daka, who is due to join the Zambian national team for the Africa Cup of Nations next week.
Cifuentes commented to BBC East Midlands Today: "He has looked good and has been a good lad to have around as well. We are just having a look at him, and he is happy to train with us."
Antonio’s crash occurred during the final months of his West Ham contract. He spent over three weeks in hospital following surgery and faced a challenging physical and mental recovery.
He was unable to regain full fitness in time for West Ham’s last season and left the club when his contract ended in June 2025.
Despite this, Antonio managed to play for Jamaica in the summer and continued training with West Ham, including appearances for the Under-21 squad to regain match experience.
When asked about the lasting impact of his injury, Cifuentes said: "Not at all. We are aware that he has been training before with another club, and he is looking good in that sense."
The Leicester manager added: "Match fitness is what will take some time to learn because he has been away for a long period. It's never easy, and it doesn't matter how hard you train or how involved you are, because the level of the game is different."
Antonio spent ten years at West Ham, leaving the club as their all-time leading Premier League scorer with 68 goals in 268 appearances.
His professional career began at Reading at 18, after progressing from non-league side Tooting & Mitcham United. He went on to represent Southampton, Sheffield Wednesday, and Nottingham Forest before joining West Ham in 2015.
Across more than 550 career appearances, Antonio has scored over 130 goals, making him one of the most prolific forwards of his generation.
