Spurs' snub fuels Michail Antonio Premier League rise

Michail Antonio recalls that at 14 he was offered a place at Spurs' academy, but his mother turned it down. The decision sent the future West Ham forward home fuming and crying nonstop that night in his small bedroom after the scouts' visit.

The rejection left him devastated but also determined to prove himself. He vowed never to let a single setback define his future.

Antonio's journey to the top of English football was anything but straightforward. The former West Ham forward endured rejections, injuries and missed opportunities that threatened to derail his career before it truly began.

“Yeah, I was playing for my school team and my teacher, Mr Watson, kind of worked with Spurs,” Antonio tells FourFourTwo. “He got them to come and watch me and another player, we were both quite good.”

He recalled feeling “buzzing” when scouts arrived, thinking, “Oh my God, I’m going to go to Spurs’ academy, this is the start of me becoming a professional.” The prospect of training at Tottenham’s facilities seemed a dream.

When he rushed home to share the news, his mother asked, “What time will you be getting back?” and replied, “Around 11 or 12.” She answered, “No, no chance. Your education comes first, there’s no way that we’re putting your education at risk for football, which isn’t a guarantee.” That firm stance left Antonio with little room for negotiation.

“I was fuming! I was crying that night nonstop, I thought she’d taken my dream away from me,” he says. Any other club might have offered a different path, but his mother’s decision stood. Antonio eventually joined West Ham in 2015 and later earned 24 caps for Jamaica.

His autobiography, Humans Not Robots, published by HarperCollins, details the setbacks and triumphs that defined his career. Image credit: Getty Images captures the young player at Tottenham, and the archive contains several images of his early days.