‘I wasn’t allowed to join Southampton after my loan spell. I could have been part of their rise to the Premier League’ Michail Antonio on career-changing transfer that never happened
Every footballer must have their own tale about the big transfer move that got away from them – but Michail Antonio’s will have stung more than most.
The forward had already made the jump from non-league Tooting & Mitcham straight to then-Championship Reading as a teenager in 2008, but found minutes hard to come by in Berkshire.
Instead, the Royals sent him out on a series of loans – five of them in total – before making the final one permanent by taking up a move to Sheffield Wednesday.
‘That was probably one of the best days I’ve had’
In the interim, though, Antonio spent time at Cheltenham, Southampton and Colchester…and his first two loan spells both left him with mixed feelings.
Antonio told FourFourTwo of his EFL debut for Cheltenham in 2009: “It was under Martin Allen, on loan at Cheltenham against Leeds. I went from playing in front of 200 to 500 people at Tooting, to 20,000 people at Elland Road in the space of six months. Unbelievable.
“The first 28 minutes, I was on absolute fire, beating people for fun, doing long throws, taking corners – I was doing it all. Then after 28 minutes, I tore three ligaments in my ankle.”
Upon recovering from that injury, Antonio was sent out on loan to League One again.
This time he joined Southampton, where he played a part in their Johnstone’s Paint Trophy triumph at Wembley.
He said: “That was probably one of the best days I’ve had.
“We had some unbelievable players in that Southampton squad – Kelvin Davis, Jose Fonte, Dan Harding, Morgan Schneiderlin, Adam Lallana, Jason Puncheon, Rickie Lambert, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain – and we were in League One!
“It was crazy. Southampton had started the season on -10 points, and we just missed out on the play-offs.
“But we won the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy final against Carlisle and I really enjoyed my time there.
“I actually wanted to sign for them again, but Reading told me no.
“The following season Southampton got promoted, then went from League One to the Premier League in only two years.
“I was left thinking to myself, ‘That could have been me…’.”
Antonio made it to the Premier League himself just a couple of years later, though, leaving Sheffield Wednesday for Nottingham Forest before attracting the attention of West Ham, where he spent ten years and made 268 top-flight appearances.
Sometimes you just have to be patient, as it turns out.
