Michail Antonio exclusive: West Ham forward lauds 'unbelievable' Mohammed Kudus and 'special' Lucas Paqueta

Speaking in an exclusive interview with TNT Sports, West Ham forward Michail Antonio heaped praise on his club team-mates Mohammed Kudus and Lucas Paqueta for their impact this season.

Kudus joined The Hammers from Ajax at the start of the season and has become one of the key players at the club, contributing 14 goals and four assists in all competitions so far.

Paqueta has continued his fine form after signing for West Ham last season and being a key member as they won the 2023 UEFA Conference League.

When asked about Kudus' adaptation to the league this season, Antonio told TNT Sports: "I just feel it’s his humbleness; his grounding. His low centre of gravity, his trickery with the ball and his eye for a goal.

"A lot of people will come to the Premier League and realise how fast-paced and strong you need to be and the pace of the football. Normally when you play in other leagues, you just need one of the three but in the Premier League you need to have all three.

"And Kudus has it and has it in abundance. That’s why I feel like he’s managed to come in and do it so easy."

Kudus scored one of the goals of the season with a mesmerising run and finish in West Ham's emphatic 5-0 win over Frieburg in the UEFA Europa League.

Antonio was one of the first players to celebrate with Kudus after his wonder goal and said he was not surprised to see him produce such a magical moment.

"I definitely haven’t seen a [better] one this season," Antonio said about the goal. "There might have been one close to it with Dimitri Payet against Middlesbrough [in 2016] but it’s an unbelievable goal. The guy has that in abundance, and it won’t be the last time he’ll do that.

"When he first came, he was quite quiet. He kept himself to himself and kept everything quite basic in training. As he's built his confidence in games, in training he’s just come alive. The certain things he’s been doing in training… it’s like the ball is glued to his feet, it’s actually unbelievable."

Antonio was also beaming when speaking about Paqueta's influence on the team and explained why the midfielder is so important to West Ham's success.

"Lucas is a special player. The vision that he has, his ability, the strength, the pace… he’s a true Brazilian," he added. "With him, I know if I make a run he’s looking for me.

"He wants to play the ball forward, wants to find the striker and wants to get his assists up.

"I actually call him the ‘assist man’ because there’ll be times he’ll be in front of goal and if there’s someone else on the line, he will pass it to them. That’s how he is, unselfish and just wants the team to do well."

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