EXCLUSIVE: Michail Antonio pushing for West Ham exit amid Celtic, Leeds interest

Steve Kay

Updated: 7 Aug 2023 10:41 CDT
4 min read

Michail Antonio, Celtic, Leeds — © ProShots

West Ham forward Michail Antonio is keen to leave the club this summer, FootballTransfers understands.

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Sources have informed us that the 33-year-old is pushing hard to get a move away from East London and he has no shortage of suitors. Chief among them are Scottish giants Celtic and relegated Leeds United.

The Jamaica international has been an ever-present and a reliable source of goals for the Hammers in recent years, but he is coming off a relatively poor Premier League season by his standards. Indeed, he scored more goals across nine UEFA Conference League outings than he did in his 33 appearances in the league.

All told, Antonio chipped in with 14 goals last term, but a change of scenery appears to be on the cards. Head coach David Moyes will, however, block any potential exit before a proper replacement is found, we hear.

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With a year left on his contract, a small fee will be required to prise the Conference League winner away from the Hammers. Both Leeds and Celtic have lost some attacking talent this window and they are keen to add the experienced striker to their squads, though there may yet be some Saudi interest as well.

© ProShots - Michail Antonio and Man Utd target Sofyan Amrabat

West Ham's tricky summer

Despite their European triumph last term, West Ham have found recruiting players for the upcoming campaign exceptionally tough. Indeed, at this point, they have not officially signed a single player, though that will soon change when Edson Alvarez's move from Ajax is announced.

Having sold Declan Rice to Arsenal for a British record fee of €116.6 million, the Hammers have had to deal with clubs inflating the values of their players knowing that West Ham have money to spend.

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As we exclusively reported earlier, the London outfit are keen on two Arsenal players. Kieran Tierney has become one of David Moyes' priority targets in recent times, while interest in Folarin Balogun has been maintained since the start of the summer window - signing him would give Antonio license to leave.

The Hammers have also been linked with a sensational double swoop for Manchester United's Harry Maguire and Scott McTominay in recent times, but the former prefers a move to a Champions League side.