Leeds United may be crying out for a striker, having already bolstered their backline sufficiently, but that should not rush manager Daniel Farke into a move to fix that issue…

Is Michail Antonio leaving West Ham United?

However, Football Transfers seem to suggest that might be the case, as they detail the future of West Ham United's leading no.9 Michail Antonio.

The Jamaica international has been a fine talisman for the Irons over the years but age has been cruel to the forward, who has seen his physical assets wane somewhat. He remains a willing runner and impressive with his hold-up play, but the goals have just started to dry up.

Read the latest Leeds transfer news HERE…

So, to suggest that Elland Road could be one of his potential destinations as he reportedly pushes for an east London exit should worry fans, as their interest in the ageing marksman would barely even mark an upgrade on last season's struggling Patrick Bamford.

Is Michail Antonio any good?

With 276 appearances for the Hammers under his belt, there have been particularly proficient periods in the 33-year-old's career that led to widespread praise.

However, those moments have been far less frequent in recent times, with the former Nottingham Forest ace having only mustered seven goals across 37 appearances in all domestic competitions last term. It marked a sharp drop off from his 2021/22 season, where he scored ten and assisted eight in the Premier League alone.

The £85k-per-week star was even lambasted by Glen Johnson during West Ham's most recent season, where they were threatened with relegation for a period. He noted:

"Michail Antonio always works hard but his form has not been great for some time now. The problem with a player like Antonio, even when his form is good, he's still not a natural goalscorer and won't give you loads of goals.

"When he's out of form, he can run around and draw some fouls, but that's not good enough in the Premier League. For a struggling team, you have to give more."

Even Bamford recently managed to amass six goals across 31 appearances in the league and the FA Cup, with the main issue surrounding the 29-year-old being his profligacy in front of goal.

The former Chelsea man missed 13 big chances in the Premier League but clearly had a knack for being in the right areas – Antonio did miss seven of his own too.

Such a troublesome tenure has come just two years after the marksman scored 17 and assisted a further eight in their return season back in the top flight, suggesting it had not been that long since he was instead one of the division's most lethal assets.

Having since been thwarted by injuries of late, this has had a huge impact on his freshness.

Yet, given he is four years Antonio's junior and with his peak arguably surpassing that of David Moyes' striker too, there is little value in bringing in such an old forward to occupy a position that could see Bamford easily recapture his form.

His most recent period in the Championship did see him fire them to the title too, with 20 goal contributions in the league.

With the years he has on him, which also hands the former England international a higher likelihood to replicate his lethal past, it could be argued that signing Antonio would be to bring in an unnecessary, far worse option.