West Ham have no plans to sell Marko Arnautovic after receiving a £35m bid from an unnamed Chinese club for the forward.
While Arnautovic would be able to command a lucrative wage by moving to the Chinese Super League, West Ham will not be pressured into losing the 29-year-old during the winter transfer window. The Austrian is West Ham’s joint-top scorer with eight goals in all competitions and is seen as a crucial part of Manuel Pellegrini’s plans.
West Ham have dealt with plenty of speculation concerning Arnautovic since his £24m move from Stoke in July 2017. He was linked with Manchester United last summer and recently said he could be tempted to pursue a transfer to a club in the Champions League.
However there is a suspicion that Arnautovic, who is represented by his brother Danijel, will try to use the interest from China to convince West Ham to award him an improved contract.
Two years on from losing Dimitri Payet to Marseille, West Ham are aware it would be a PR disaster to sell another of their best players. Arnautovic has become their most important forward in the past 12 months and his recent spell on the sidelines with a hamstring injury underlined his importance to Pellegrini, who does not want to have to sign a replacement this month.
West Ham’s position is hardened by the knowledge their other strikers are not in Arnautovic’s class. Javier Hernández has been inconsistent since signing from Bayer Leverkusen in 2017 and Andy Carroll, whose injury record counts against him, is out of contract in the summer. West Ham will wait until the end of the season before deciding whether to offer Carroll a deal.
Lucas Pérez could be set to leave six months after his £4m move from Arsenal. However West Ham are yet to receive any bids for the forward despite reports suggesting he is a target for Real Betis and Deportivo La Coruña.
.jpg?w=600)
