Michail Antonio has been frequently linked with a move away from West Ham in recent months, but he has been an important player for Manuel Pellegrini’s side.
The 28-year-old versatile player, who can play in all the attacking midfield positions and at right full back, has made 12 appearances in the Premier League and started in five of them.
Antonio has been getting into good attacking areas but he has little output to show to his manager. He has failed to score for his club this season, and only has one assist to his name.
Pellegrini has suggested to The Mirror that he wants Antonio to score more goals. The former Nottingham Forest winger’s only goal of the season so far has come in the EFL Cup.
Antonio missed a good opportunity to score in West Ham’s 4-0 defeat against Manchester City last weekend.
Pellegrini has now urged Antonio – who earns £70,000 per week as salary, according to Spotrac.com – to score more goals.
“If you have two or three clear chances, you must score. It’s not just to demonstrate you can do it, you must score,” Pellegrini said to The Mirror.
“Maybe the two chances he had, if he had scored, would have changed the game. So on one side you are happy because of the way he is playing and on the other he is not scoring – and he must score.”
West Ham have made a poor start to the season despite spending big in the summer transfer window. They find themselves 14th in the Premier League , just three points above the relegation zone.
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