Manager admits he regrets selling his star man to West Ham

Former Nottingham Forest manager Dougie Freedman has admitted that he was wrong to allow winger Michail Antonio to join West Ham in the summer.

Forest had turned down previous bids for the 26-year-old but when the Hammers offered £7million for his services, Freedman said it was him who decided to accept the bid.

As reported by the Nottingham Post, Freedman said:

Michail Antonio was a decision which, maybe looking back, I regret. But I think at the time, with this financial thing over our heads, we had to make a decision and Fawaz, to be fair to him, let me make the decision, and we had to sell Michail Antonio, which dented us. But the recruitment policy we put in place, with free transfers and loans, I felt was the right thing to do.

Antonio had to wait a while to be given an opportunity in Slaven Bilic’s side and after the squad was hit by an injury crisis, he was put into the team has earned the right to stay in it.

Whether it’s been playing as a winger or as a full-back, the Englishman has put in a string of high-quality performances that have seen him go from a forgotten man to a first-team regular.

Freedman was sacked by Forest in May and he’s likely to think back and wish he hadn’t sold Antonio as the winger could have helped him keep his job.