Jamaica’s Michail Antonio (right) shields the ball from Trinidad and Tobago’s Shannon Gomez during their Concacaf Gold Cup game at CITYPARK in St Louis, Missouri on Wednesday, June 28. (Photo: AFP)
Antonio’s potential Leicester move could strengthen case for Reggae Boyz recall
Striker Michail Antonio could be back in the mix for a Reggae Boyz call-up as he’s closing in on a deal with former English Premier League champions Leicester City.
The 35-year-old, who has recovered from a broken leg suffered during a near-fatal car crash last December, is currently training with English Championships club Leicester as a free agent. He has been without a club since June after being released by West Ham where he spent 10 years as a player.
A contract would be a boost for Antonio who has expressed an interest in helping the Reggae Boyz qualify for the FIFA World Cup next summer.
The national senior men’s team will compete in March’s inter-confederation play-offs, dubbed the FIFA World Cup 2026 Play-Off tournament, after failing in their bid for automatic qualification after finishing behind Curacao in their Concacaf World Cup Qualifying group last month.
Antonio, who has five goals in 24 appearances for Jamaica, was left out of the final four games in Concacaf World Cup Qualifying after making the squad for the opening wins against Bermuda and Trinidad and Tobago in September, despite only making the bench. He was also set to make the squad for the October window but picked up a calf injury which ruled him out of former Head Coach Steve McClaren’s squad.
“The last time they were in the World Cup was 1998 so to be able to get Jamaica into the World Cup again would be amazing. We’re now six games away from being qualified and the six games are very doable for us,” said Antonio prior to the start of the qualifiers.
Antonio will be looking to earn a place in interim Head Coach Rudolph Speid’s squad for the Reggae Boyz as they prepare to face Oceania’s New Caledonia and Africa’s DR Congo or Nigeria. Though not confirming who will make the cut, Speid told the **Jamaica Observer **last month that active players will be given priority.
“One of the things that we will be looking at is who is playing, who is playing a lot of minutes at their clubs, those are some of the players that we really have to look at,” said Speid. “We have to be on our ‘A’ game and get the people with the right mentality. We are not going into that game to say we can’t lose; but winning is not beyond us, we can definitely do it.”
Antonio hasn’t played club football since, ironically, West Ham’s 1-3 defeat to Leicester City in the EPL on December 3, 2024. His only competitive action over the past 12 months came during Jamaica’s failed Concacaf Gold Cup campaign in June when he made three appearances off the bench against Guatemala, Guadeloupe, and Panama, respectively.
Antonio trained with West Ham’s under-21 team during the summer to keep up his fitness in hopes of signing for a new club. It was thought that he would have signed for Brentford FC in October after training with the London-based club for over a week. However, Manager Keith Andrew said they wouldn’t be moving forward with a deal after he picked up an injury.
But Antonio, who registered 83 goals and 43 assists for West Ham in 323 appearances, could make a return to club football in the coming weeks with Leicester in talks to sign him on a short-term contract.
The club, who were relegated from the EPL last season, are currently 13th in the country’s second division, but four points off a play-off spot and are in need of firepower with strikers Jordan Ayew, Patson Daka, and Julian Carranza scoring a combined five goals in 22 games.
Leicester Manager Marti Cifuentes says he’s been impressed with the Jamaican striker and believes he could make a difference.
“He’s a good football player. He comes from a period without a team, but he’s been training only a couple of days with us and he’s been looking good. He’s a good lad to have around as well,” he said.
“It would take some time [for match fitness] because he has been away for a long period. It’s never easy – it doesn’t matter how hard you train, the level in games is different. But he’s looking good. It’s something we’re discussing.”
Cifuentes says a decision on Antonio’s future with the club is likely to be made before the new year but says there’s mutual interest in getting a deal done.
“It would not make any sense if a player was here if we were not interested in him, or the opposite, that he would be here if he was not interested in Leicester,” he said.
“You know him as a player, you know his skills and the experience he’s got. When we discussed with him and his agents about the possibility to have a look at him, it was because we believe he has some strengths that can help the team. Let’s see what happens in the next few days and if he will join the club or not. Then I will give you a more clear answer,” Cifuentes added.
Antonio would be the second Jamaican at the club, joining international teammate Bobby Reid.
Jamaica Reggae Boyz forward Michail Antonio trains at the National Stadium on June 5, 2024. ( Photo: Karl Mclarty)
In this August 20, 2023 file photo, West Ham United’s Michail Antonio tries to elude Chelsea’s Moises Caicedo during the English Premier League match at the London Stadium, in England. (Photo: AFP)