What happened to West Ham star Michail Antonio?

THERE are fears that West Ham striker Michail Antonio may never return to the pitch again after his horror accident on Saturday afternoon.

Since signing from Nottingham Forest in 2015, Antonio has established himself as West Ham's all-time Premier League leading goal scorer with 68 goals.

The Jamaican forward also played a key role in West Ham's 2023 Europa Conference League triumph - the Hammers' first major trophy in 43 years.

But it has now been revealed that Antonio's return to action is in jeopardy following the news that broke last weekend.

And SunSport can explain exactly what has happened to the versatile footballer

What happened to Michail Antonio?

Michail Antonio "shattered" his legs after being involved in a horror car crash.

Shocking images showed the West Ham striker had smashed his £260,000 Ferrari FF into trees.

And it was reported that Antonio was trapped for 45 minutes before being cut free by a fire crew.

Antonio was then airlifted to a London hospital were he underwent surgery on his lower limbs.

It is now understood the dad-of-four's best-case scenario will be a one-year recovery time.

What has been said?

West Ham put out a statement confirming that Michail Antonio has undergone surgery.

The statement read: "West Ham United can confirm Michail Antonio has undergone surgery on a lower limb fracture following a road traffic accident on Saturday afternoon.

"Michail will continue to be monitored in hospital over the coming days.

"Everyone at the Club wishes Michail a speedy recovery and expresses its sincere gratitude to the football family at large for the overwhelming support shown since yesterday’s news.

"A heartfelt thank you to the emergency services and first responders who attended to Michail in the immediate aftermath of the incident, and the medical team who continue to aid him in his recovery.

"The Club will provide further updates when appropriate."

Ahead of West Ham's Premier League match with Wolves on Monday, December 9, Hammers players warmed-up in special 'Antonio 9' shirts as well as walking out in top adorning the striker's name.

Michail Antonio's first words since the crash

The Premier League star asked a witness who rushed to his help three worrying questions after the crash.

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

Samuel Woods

Samuel, a carer from Regent’s Park, 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.”

Samuel, who does not follow football and did not recognise the star, went on: “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.”