West Ham fear they could find themselves in a stand-off with Marko Arnautovic if they don’t sell him cheap.
The Irons have a £19.7million bid in from Chinese Super League club Shanghai SiPG and Arnautovic has slapped in a formal transfer request in a bid to force their hand. But West Ham, themselves in for Celta Vigo marksman Maxi Gomez, intend to resist selling the Austria international unless they get around £45m.
It leaves player and club on an apparent collision course just one week before he is due back in London to begin pre-season training.
West Ham are digging their heels in because Arnautovic’s previous club, Stoke, are due 20 per cent of the profit on any deal for a player they sold in 2017 for £24m.
It is the second time in as many transfer windows that he has asked to leave the London Stadium for China.
In January, the 30-year-old was blocked from joining Guangzhou Evergrande, who bid £30m for him and offered the frontman about £200,000 a week in wages.
Arnautovic went on to sign a contract extension that's worth about £130,000 a week, but he struggled to regain his form on a consistent basis. He was left out of the team for four matches and scored just three times in the rest of the season, having struck seven before that in the league, as Manuel Pellegrini's side finished 10th — five points off a Europa League place.
He is expected back to start pre-season work next week following international duty in the European Championship qualifiers last month.
Some of his team-mates are already on tour in Switzerland.
* WEST HAM legend Julian Dicks has quit as manager on non-League Heybridge Swifts to be reunited with Slaven Bilic, who he worked under for two years at the Hammers, as first-team coach of Championship side West Brom.
