Former West Ham striker Michail Antonio says football players are like “meat” to Premier League clubs.

The Hammers’ all-time Premier League top scorer jumped into the defence of Newcastle striker Alexander Isak, who is trying to force through a move to Liverpool.

Antonio, who suffered a broken leg in a car crash eight months ago believes loyalty in football is gone. He questioned why players should stay loyal to their clubs when it is often not reciprocated.

We are meat to them,’ Antonio said in FourFourTwo. “As soon as we start going stale, it’s time to sell or throw away. Before, if a player was at a club for a few years, you see the human side of that player – now it’s all about money, and how much money can they make [for] the club?

“And that’s where it’s got to, so if a club is going to think about the money side of things, why shouldn’t a player?”

While he was talking about Alexander Isak’s situation, the question has been raised as to whether he was talking about his own experiences at West Ham. Was it a dig at West Ham United?

The 35-year-old wanted to stay at the club, but we didn’t offer him the terms he wanted and thought he deserved to stay at the club.

But to be honest, as much as we all love Michail Antonio, he isn’t the same player anymore, and we probably wouldn’t have offered him a contract at all if we weren’t supporting him through what was a traumatic experience for him.

While Antonio looks for a clu,b he will be a pundit on TNT Sports during the 25/26 season, a role that really suits him and his character.