“Very rushed decision” – Sheffield Wednesday transfer regret voiced after West Ham United exploits

Sheffield Wednesday may always be haunted by a nagging feeling of what-if, having sold Michail Antonio to Nottingham Forest right before his star truly rose.

Antonio initially joined the Owls on loan from Reading mid-way through the 2011/12 League One campaign and helped them gain promotion that year, returning five strikes from 14 matches.

Wednesday decided to make the move permanent upon their promotion back to the Championship, where Antonio was a regular fixture for the next two seasons. However, they ultimately elected for a sale in the summer of 2014 when Nottingham Forest came calling, and Antonio departed for the City Ground in a reported £1.5 million deal.

Antonio’s time in the East Midlands was brief but memorable as he scored 15 goals and made a further 12 assists in the Championship to earn a £7 million move to West Ham United the following summer, and the rest is history.

The versatile forward has enjoyed a sustained and successful top-flight career whereas Wednesday have not yet returned to the Premier League and certainly look no closer to doing so in recent times, so the regret among supporters is palpable and entirely understandable.

Verdict offered on Sheffield Wednesday’s Michail Antonio transfer regret

When asked to name one player his club sold too early, our resident Sheffield Wednesday fan pundit Patrick said: “In regards to a player that we sold too early, the answer to that is definitely Michail Antonio.

“He was brilliant for us on loan, he was our best attacking threat and a scorer of important goals. We signed him on a four-year deal and he lasted less than a season, selling him for a low-ish amount of £1.5 million.

“We essentially sold our best attacking player and we never directly replaced him, we went on to have a respectable mid-table finish the next season but notably failed to create a lot of chances infront of goal and I believe the threat of Antonio was severely missed.

“You can see with West Ham the career he has had in the top-flight, even winning a European medal. So watching him in the Premier League for the past few seasons does make me shake my head that we seemed to make the very rushed decision at the time to sell him.

 

“As well, if he had been there a few more seasons when Carlos Carvahal came in and we were getting in the likes of [Barry] Bannan, [Fernando] Forestieri and Lucas Joao, he would’ve been a real asset in that team. He certainly would’ve went on to do quite a bit for us but as it was, we did sell him and it is a decision I look back on with regret.”

Michail Antonio has prompted Sheffield Wednesday regret with both Nottingham Forest and West Ham

Wednesday were left to rue their decision to sell Antonio almost immediately, as he lit up the 2014/15 Championship season with league rivals Forest before netting the Reds a healthy profit a year later. Given the Owls finished 13th that term – albeit one point and one place above Forest – they would’ve surely loved to be the beneficiaries of Antonio’s quality and output.

Since his days in the second-tier, though, Antonio has established himself as a dependable top-flight staple.

West Ham have spent serious money on their attacking options over the years and have spent a few seasons competing in Europe, but the evergreen forward is still going strong at the ripe old age of 34 and remains a key part of the side.

The striker is approaching a decade of association with West Ham, whom he has represented on 320 occasions. With 83 goals coming in that time too, Wednesday fans are well within their right to wonder why the club sold him so soon.