Sheffield Wednesday supporters may still be scratching their heads over Nottingham Forest, Michail Antonio deal | OneFootball

Michail Antonio left Sheffield Wednesday for Nottingham Forest in 2014 and he's enjoyed a stellar career since

When Michail Antonio departed Hillsborough a decade ago, you'd have struggled to find someone who would expect him to have gone on and enjoyed the career he has at Premier League level.

Antonio left Sheffield Wednesday to join Championship rivals Nottingham Forest, subsequently earning a further move to West Ham, where he's become a mainstay in the Hammers' side in the years that have followed, and it's fair to say that he's a household name in Premier League football now.

The 34-year-old has had to do things the hard way to become the player that he is now, beginning his career in non-league with Tooting & Mitcham United before a number of EFL moves culminating in his move to West Ham, and not even the most optimistic of Hammers supporters could have foreseen his move being such a success.

It means that, in hindsight, Sheffield Wednesday may regret sanctioning a deal to sell him to Forest a decade ago, and it will leave supporters scratching their heads how he departed for such a small fee.

Sheffield Wednesday supporters will be scratching their heads over Michail Antonio transfer

Antonio had initially joined the Owls on loan from Reading in 2012, scoring five times between then and the end of the 2011/12 campaign before he was signed on a permanent basis that summer after helping the club to promotion to the Championship.

Over the course of the next two seasons, Antonio was a solid performer for Wednesday, but there was nothing there that suggested he would become a mainstay in the Premier League in the future.

He scored eight goals and registered 11 assists in 42 appearances during the 2012/13 season, being used out wide rather than as a striker where we've become accustomed to seeing him play now.

The following campaign was even less fruitful, with just four goals and six assists in 27 appearances, but it was enough to attract interest from Championship rivals Nottingham Forest, and he completed a switch to the City Ground in August 2014.

Forest forked out just £1.5m to sign him, and it wouldn't take long for Wednesday to realise they had made a mistake selling him for such a meagre fee.

After just a season at Forest, he was sold to West Ham for £7million, and had the Owls been able to keep him for a little while longer they could have made far more money.

Selling Antonio for just £1.5million proved a poor move for the Owls, and it's got worse with every passing season.

Michail Antonio has become a star at West Ham

Over the course of the following nine years, Antonio has transformed from a slightly raw Championship winger into a quality Premier League striker who helped West Ham win a European trophy.

It's a trajectory that not many Wednesday supporters would have seen coming, despite his obvious talent, and with over 300 appearances for the Hammers under his belt, he'll always be fondly remembered in East London.

Despite the fact he's 34, he's still a regular starter in the Premier League for West Ham, and it feels like whatever striker is brought in for big money will eventually lose his position to Antonio, such is his consistency and workrate.

He scored six goals in nine appearances as West Ham lifted the Europa Conference League in June 2023, playing the full 90 minutes in the final against Fiorentina and writing his name into the club's history books.

He currently has over 80 goals for the club in just over 300 appearances, a very decent return, and the day he leaves West Ham will be a sad day for the Hammers faithful, such is the impact he's made at the club over the last nine years.

Given his success in the top-flight, it's easy to forget where Antonio has come from and how he had to work his way up through the ranks, and Sheffield Wednesday selling him for a measly £1.5million a decade ago will leave the Hillsborough faithful scratching their heads.