Michail Antonio will return to training with his West Ham team-mates on Thursday after David Sullivan, the club’s co-owner, spent GBP100,000 to charter a private jet to fly the forward back from Jamaica
Antonio was due to return to the UK on Thursday ahead of training on Friday after representing Jamaica in their World Cup qualifiers against El Salvador and the USA.
But West Ham want Antonio to be in the best possible shape for their Premier League game at Wolves on Saturday afternoon, when a draw or a win would see them rise to second in the table.
The 31-year-old – who was back in London on Wednesday evening – has been key to the Hammers’ impressive form this season, scoring seven goals in 13 games in all competitions.
Antonio was understood to be desperate to return to West Ham as quickly as possible in a bid to feature against Wolves at the weekend, and took to social media to thank Sullivan.
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Antonio scored in both of Jamaica’s games – which each finished 1-1 – during the international break.
He declared his intention to play for Jamaica earlier this year and has two goals in three games for the side.
Antonio was also eligible to play for England, his country of birth.
West Ham ‘surprised’ after fans banned from next Europa away match
West Ham say they are “surprised and disappointed” by UEFA’s decision to ban supporters from attending their next Europa League away tie with Rapid Vienna.
The Hammers were charged following their 2-2 draw against Genk in Belgium on November 4. European football’s governing body accused travelling supporters of crowd disturbances and the throwing of objects during their match in Belgium.
Those charges have been upheld and the club have been fined just under GBP25,500 (EUR30,000) for those disturbances and another GBP3,817 (EUR4,500) for the throwing of objects at the same game, and away supporters will not be able to attend the Rapid Vienna clash on November 25 despite some already buying tickets.
But West Ham say they are “urgently seeking clarification from UEFA, particularly given the extremely short notice of the sanction, which will impact our supporters who have already bought tickets and made arrangements to travel to Austria”.