After a slow start to his West Ham career, Marko Arnautovic has now become a fan favourite at the east London club.
The 29-year-old managed to score on 11 occasions in the Premier League this season, helping West Ham to a 13th place finish in the table. However, Arnautovic’s impressive displays have seen Inter Milan ignite interest in their former player, according to Gianluca Di Marzio.
Unsurprisingly, the reports linking Arnautovic (valued at £22.5m by Transfermarkt) to the Serie A giants have left West Ham supporters worrying, which is only logical. The potential sale of the Austrian would be catastrophic. Under David Moyes, Arnautovic had become the Hammers’ talisman.
Initially struggling for form while Slaven Bilic was at the helm, Arnautovic was moved up front by Moyes where he was able to showcase his talent and reproduce the maverick displays he often showed at previous club Stoke City.
With 11 league goals and six assists, replacing Arnautovic will be no easy feat. It’s believed Inter Milan would be willing to include Joao Mario, who spent the second half of the campaign on loan in east London, in any potential deal for Arnautovic.
And while the Portugal international did add an extra bit of quality to West Ham’s side, obtaining him on a permanent basis at the expense of Arnautovic would be disastrous for new manager Manuel Pellegrini.
Take a look at West Ham fans’ thoughts on Arnautovic’s possible exit here…
Non offence to Mario , but swapping Arnie for him would be like swapping rashford for Phil Neville , makes no sense
— Martyn Hobbs (@MartynHobbs12) 20 June 2018
This isn’t good pic.twitter.com/bHthF1XESF
— /ucas (@EllYouSeeAyeEss) 20 June 2018
They give us icardi then they have a deal , they can fuck off and ex just comfimed this is bullshit , he’s staying
— Zak simo (@zak_sims) 20 June 2018
I don’t want Mario
Arnie > Mario
any day of the week
— Euan Rourke (@Euan_Rourke8) 20 June 2018
They can have him if they give us icardi or they can do one
— Zak simo (@zak_sims) 20 June 2018
