Alan Shearer singles out £85k-a-week West Ham man for praise

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Pundit Alan Shearer has admitted he was very impressed with West Ham United forward Michail Antonio after their win against Brighton & Hove Albion.

Shearer named the 33-year-old in his team of the week after finding the back of the net at the Amex.

Few West Ham fans would have seen the club having such a good start to the season after last year’s Premier League campaign.

Although David Moyes led the club to the Europa Conference League title, they were poor domestically.

Not only that, they lost star player Declan Rice to Arsenal leaving a gap that needed filling in midfield.

West Ham took their time to identify the right replacements but appear to have made the right call.

James Ward-Prowse and Edson Alvarez have stepped up immediately with the England international looking brilliant already.

Shearer was also impressed with Michail Antonio who is discovering his best form in a West Ham shirt.

After finding the back of the net just five times in the league last season, Antonio is well on his way to surpassing that tally in this campaign.

Shearer impressed with West Ham star Antonio

The Newcastle icon named Antonio alongside Darwin Nunez and Raheem Sterling in his front three and said: “Bullied Brighton’s defence all match and scored another outstanding goal.”

The £85,000-a-week striker is under more pressure to perform this season than last year.

West Ham sold Gianluca Scamacca to Atalanta this summer after a disappointing 12 months at the club.

It means that the only competition Antonio currently has is Danny Ings and youngster Divin Mubama.

Alvarez was very impressed with his new teammate at the weekend who plays a role that few centre-forwards in the Premier League could do.

Moyes asks the Jamaican international to do a huge amount of running off the ball and battle with centre-backs every week.

He has to work incredibly hard to carve out any chances for himself but has done that brilliantly against Chelsea and Brighton already this season.

It’s no wonder fellow forward Shearer enjoyed watching Antonio bully Brighton’s defenders for West Ham.

Moyes has been linked with bringing in another striker before the transfer window closes.

If it’s Pedro or Hugo Ekitike, they’re going to have to work hard to displace Antonio in the starting line-up.