Julen Lopetegui has revealed the West Ham squad will visit Michail Antonio over the weekend as the forward continues his recovery after a “miracle” escape from a car accident.
Antonio was involved in a road traffic accident in Essex last Saturday, which had everyone fearing the worst before news came through that he was in a stable condition in hospital. The 34-year-old has since undergone surgery on a lower limb fracture, but still faces weeks in hospital recovering from multiple injuries.
The forward spoke to his teammates via a video call from his hospital bed before they beat Wolves 2-1 on Monday. West Ham players wore “Antonio 9” shirts while warming up at the London Stadium, with the kit signed by the players – including Antonio – then auctioned off with the proceeds going to the NHS and Air Ambulances UK.
Lopetegui knows Antonio faces a long road ahead back to full fitness, but hopes the support of the club will help him on his rehabilitation journey. “We are going to visit him today or tomorrow,” Lopetegui said at a press conference before Monday night’s Premier League trip to Bournemouth.
“But the main thing is we are very happy because he is recovering very well. We are very close to him and his family and we wish him the best for the next days,” the manager added. “The best news about Michail Antonio was that he was able to talk with us before the [Wolves] match.”
“Looking at the car crash, it was one miracle [it was not more serious], so we are happy for him. Now for sure he is strong, he is recovering himself in the next months to be a man first and then a player.”
Michail Antonio has undergone surgery on a lower limb fracture after the accident last Saturday. Photograph: Paul Ellis/AFP/Getty Images
Niclas Füllkrug made a welcome return earlier this month following his calf and Achilles problems, scoring his first West Ham goal after coming off the bench in the 3-1 defeat at Leicester. Lopetegui is hopeful that the Germany forward will soon be back to full fitness, having been an unused substitute against Wolves.
“He was out for a long time, and now he has recovered and day by day he is getting better,” the West Ham manager said. “It is good news for us that he is back. He has been working in the normal way for the last 10 days and he is ready.”
Emerson will be suspended for the trip to Bournemouth having collected a fifth yellow card of the season during the win over Wolves. The end of Monday’s game saw Mario Lemina wrestle Jarrod Bowen to the floor after the final whistle, and the midfielder has been stripped of the Wolves captaincy as a result.
“He’ll still be around the senior group that leads the team, but at this moment we feel it’s best for Nelson [Semedo] to lead the group,” said the Wolves manager Gary O’Neil. “We dealt with it earlier in the week and the focus since has been purely on [Saturday’s home game against] Ipswich.”
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