When Michail Antonio's 10-year chapter at West Ham United concluded in 2025, he departed as one of the most cherished forwards the club had seen in the Premier League era — the all-time top scorer in the league's colours. What made that achievement remarkable was just how uncertain his early days at the club had been.

A debut to remember at Man City

Antonio's first appearance for the Hammers came as a substitute at Manchester City. "The first game where I got on was at Man City," he told FourFourTwo. "I came on at left wing, but I basically played left-back because we were under that much pressure, as we were winning 2-1."

The Jamaica international admitted he did not recognise every opponent on the pitch that day. "Yeah, I went on not really knowing many of City's players. Obviously I knew Yaya Toure and Sergio Aguero, but the players that they'd just signed, I didn't have a clue."

Despite his limited exposure to the game on television, Antonio helped West Ham hold on for a 2-1 victory — a memorable first outing. What followed, however, was far less enjoyable.

The missing person joke that went viral

After that opening cameo, Antonio spent two months rooted to the bench without setting foot on the pitch. Television cameras regularly caught him sitting there, prompting supporters to nickname him "The Hologram."

Then came the social media moment that captured the absurdity perfectly. A fan tweeted a photo of Antonio to then-West Ham co-owner David Gold, labelling it a "Missing person" appeal — and Gold retweeted it without realising the joke was at the club's expense.

"It was hilarious, fans have good banter and that was good, to be fair," Antonio recalled. He also shed light on why he was left out so often. "It was David Sullivan who signed me, Slaven Bilic didn't think I was going to be able to handle the Premier League. That's probably why I didn't play the first few months, until everybody got injured — then I had to play at right-back."

Antonio's journey from invisible substitute to West Ham United's all-time Premier League top scorer stands as one of English football's more unlikely success stories. His autobiography, Humans Not Robots, published by HarperCollins, is available now.