Championship strugglers’ talks with Michail Antonio rivalled by Qatari club

Michail Antonio has reportedly held talks with Qatari side Al Sailiya as his search for a return to football continues.

The striker has not played senior club football since December 2024 after suffering a broken leg in a horrific car accident.

Getty

Antonio left West Ham when his contract expired in the summer, but continued his rehabilitation at the east Londoners afterwards.

He then trained at Leicester City and was on course to sign a short-term contract before the deal fell through.

talkSPORT reported last week that Leicester’s Championship rivals Charlton Athletic have held initial talks with the 35-year-old.

The Addicks are 18th in the second tier and seven points clear of the bottom three after their 3-1 defeat to Portsmouth on Tuesday night.

However, the BBC have reported that Antonio has also been in talks with Al Sailiya.

The Doha-based club compete in the Qatar Stars League, which is the country’s top division.

Former Everton defender Mason Holgate, who has played alongside Antonio for Jamaica, is on loan at the club from Al Gharafa.

Ex-Aston Villa and Cardiff City winger Anwar El Ghazi also features for Al Sailiya.

Could Antonio aid Charlton chase for survival?

With 14 matches left to play this season, Charlton will hope to avoid being dragged into a relegation battle.

Their seven-point gap above the relegation zone looks comfortable on paper, but this could decrease within a matter of days.

Getty

Charlton still have fixtures against promotion hopeful such as Southampton, Wrexham, Middlesbrough and Ipswich Town to play.

The Addicks’ top scorer this season on seven goals is Sonny Carey.

Charlie Kelman is their highest-scoring striker with four, whilst Miles Leaburn has three.

Antonio would arrive at The Valley as a player with past experience of playing in the Championship.

He made 142 appearances in the division across his spells at Reading, Sheffield Wednesday and Nottingham Forest.

The forward netted 28 times and assisted another 30, so his quality in front of goal could boost towards Charlton away from the drop.