Lokacin da shekarun 10 na Michail Antonio a West Ham United suka zo ƙarshe a 2025, ya tafi yana ɗaya daga cikin maharan da aka fi so a zamanin Premier League — kuma babban mai ci kwallaye a tarihin kulob din a wannan gasar. Abin da ya sa wannan nasara ta zama mai ban mamaki shi ne yadda farkon ranakun sa a kulob din ya kasance cike da rashin tabbas.

Farkon wasa mai tunawa a Man City

Antonio ya fara fitowa don Hammers a matsayin ɗan wasa mai maye gurbi a wasan da Manchester City. "Wasansa na farko da na shiga shi ne a Man City," ya shaida wa FourFourTwo. "Na shigo a matsayin ɗan wasa na reshen hagu, amma a zahiri na buga a matsayin bek na hagu saboda mun kasance ƙarƙashin matsi mai yawa, a yayin da muke lashe 2-1."

Ɗan wasan ƙasar Jamaica ya yarda bai san dukkan abokan hamayyarsa ba a wannan rana. "Eh, na shigo ba tare da sanin yawancin 'yan wasan City ba. A bayyane na san Yaya Toure da Sergio Aguero, amma 'yan wasan da suka sanya hannu kwanan nan, ban da wata fahimta ba."

Duk da ƙarancin kallo na kwallon ƙafa a talabijin, Antonio ya taimaka wa West Ham ta riƙe nasara ta 2-1 — farkon wasa mai ban sha'awa. Duk da haka, abin da ya biyo baya ya kasance ƙasa da jin daɗi.

Barkwancin 'mutumin da ya ɓace' da ya yadu

Bayan wannan bayyanarsa ta farko, Antonio ya kwashe watanni biyu yana zaune a kan benci ba tare da taɓa filin wasa ba. Kamara na talabijin sun kasance suna nuna shi zaune a can kullum, har magoya bayan suka ba shi lakabi da "The Hologram."

Sa'an nan sai ya zo lokacin da ya shafi kafofin watsa labarai na zamani wanda ya nuna abin ban dariya na hali sosai. Wani magoya baya ya aika hoto na Antonio zuwa ga mai haɗin gwiwar mallakin West Ham a wancan lokaci, David Gold, yana mai cewa wani neman "Mutumin da ya ɓace" — kuma Gold ya sake yada shi ba tare da fahimtar cewa barkwancin na da alaƙa da shi ba.

"Ya kasance abin dariya, magoya baya suna da kyakkyawan barkwanci kuma wannan ya kasance mai kyau, gaskiya," Antonio ya tuna. Ya kuma bayyana dalilin da ya sa aka bar shi akai-akai. "David Sullivan ne ya sanya hannu a kaina, Slaven Bilic bai yi imani cewa zan iya jimre da Premier League. Wataƙila shi ne dalilin da ya sa ban buga wasanni na farko ba, sai kowa ya ji rauni — sa'an nan dole ne na buga a matsayin bek na dama."

Tafiyar Antonio daga ɗan wasa da ba a gani ba zuwa babban mai ci kwallaye a tarihin West Ham United a Premier League ita ce ɗaya daga cikin labarun nasara mafi ban mamaki a kwallon ƙafa ta Ingila. Tarihin rayuwarsa, Humans Not Robots, wanda HarperCollins suka buga, yana samuwa yanzu.