Sheffield Wednesday supporters may still be scratching their heads over Nottingham Forest Michail Antonio deal.
When Michail Antonio departed Hillsborough a decade ago, you’d have struggled to find someone who would expect him to have gone on and enjoyed the career he has at Premier League level.
Antonio left Sheffield Wednesday to join Championship rivals Nottingham Forest, subsequently earning a further move to West Ham, where he’s become a mainstay in the Hammers’ side in the years that have followed, and it’s fair to say that he’s a household name in Premier League football now.
The 34-year-old has had to do things the hard way to become the player that he is now, beginning his career in non-league with Tooting & Mitcham United before a number of EFL moves culminating in his move to West Ham, and not even the most optimistic of Hammers supporters could have foreseen his move being such a success.
It means that, in hindsight, Sheffield Wednesday may regret sanctioning a deal to sell him to Forest a decade ago, and it will leave supporters scratching their heads how he departed for such a small fee.
Sheffield Wednesday supporters will be scratching their heads over Michail Antonio transfer
Michail Antonio Sheffield Wednesday
Antonio had initially joined the Owls on loan from Reading in 2012, scoring five times between then and the end of the 2011/12 campaign before he was signed on a permanent basis that summer after helping the club to promotion to the Championship.
Over the course of the next two seasons, Antonio was a solid performer for Wednesday, but there was nothing there that suggested he would become a mainstay in the Premier League in the future.
He scored eight goals and registered 11 assists in 42 appearances during the 2012/13 season, being used out wide rather than as a striker where we’ve become accustomed to seeing him play now.
The following campaign was even less fruitful, with just four goals and six assists in 27 appearances, but it was enough to attract interest from Championship rivals Nottingham Forest, and he completed a switch to the City Ground in August 2014.
