West Ham star, MICHAIL ANTONIO 'could be forced to retire from football' at 34 after his horror Ferrari crash

Monday, December 09, 2024 - West Ham United striker, Michail Antonio could be forced to retire from football at the age of 34 after he suffered a car crash at the weekend.

The Hammers confirmed in a statement that the 34-year-old had endured 'a lower limb fracture' after a crash involving Antonio's silver Ferrari, with the forward rushed to hospital.

His potential injury recovery prognosis has now reportedly been revealed.

TalkSPORT's Jim White shed light on the player's reported expected recovery period after sustaining 'serious damage to one of his legs'.

'I'm told this morning he remains in a stable condition in hospital, receiving the full support of the NHS and the West Ham medical staff,' he told talkSPORT.

'Now he has sustained serious damage to one of his legs and it's thought is going to be a long haul recovery, and it will be at least 12 months before it's known whether or not he'll play football again.

'I was told this morning Michail is a fighter. He's in a very strong physical condition because he is a top class footballer and that may help him and come as a bit of an advantage when it comes to his recovery.'

It comes after a report from The Guardian had claimed that the player could be looking at 'at least a year' in rehabilitation before any return to action.

Furthermore, the report states that there are fears over whether the player will be forced to 'retire from football' as a result of his injuries.

As reported by The Sun, Antonio's first words following the crash were: 'Where am I? What's going on? What car am I in?.'

Samuel Woods was driving home after walking his dog in Epping Forest and saw the car on the roadside.

Woods told The Sun: 'I said to him "hello" to see if anyone was alive.

'I heard sirens and told him that help was on its way.

'He was so disorientated. He said, "Where am I? What's going on? What car am I in?"

'The paramedics got there really fast. I couldn't believe what happened. The car smelt of petrol.'

Woods stated that Antonio wasn't able to make sense of what he had heard. He added: 'I looked at him and thought, "He's in big trouble".

'I just said, "You've had an accident". He didn't reply. He was looking around trying to make sense of what I just said. He was sitting in the passenger side.'