Antonio Contract Pushed Back

After Michail Antonio “rejected” West Ham United’s first contract offer, it’s been reported that talks will remain “at a standstill” until the summer for the England international. But don’t worry: “rejected” and “at a standstill” are just ways for the papers to dramatize it.

The 27-year-old is signed through 2020 and he knows that a new deal is coming. The papers are making a stink like they always do with West Ham, but it’s reported that this new deal in the summer could see Michail’s wages rise to £65,000 (or even £70,000) per week. Antonio isn’t the fussy superstar type of player that we’ve unfortunately grown accustomed to in the football world. We think he’ll understand if he has to wait just a couple of months for that big of a pay rise.

Of course, large West Ham Twitter accounts who will remain nameless, as well as the papers, have made a big fuss about Antonio’s contract talks being “at a standstill,” but we trust Slaven and what he has to say on the matter:

"The club and chairman appreciate the job he has done for us. The club is offering him a new contract definitely, for sure, this summer. He wants to stay.

"To be fair, he has a long contract anyway, it's not like he has one year left, but we appreciate what he has done and we want to keep him happy and keep him for a long time. The club are preparing for that."

We don’t believe for a second that Antonio rejected a new contract out of any sort of bad blood toward the club. That’s not who he is. He wants to play football and remain a Hammer, just with a large jump in pay. Can’t blame a guy for that. We expect to see Michail Antonio back in the Claret and Blue after summer negotiations with a £70,000 spring in his step.