Marko Arnautovic's move to Chinese Super League side Shanghai SIPG has been confirmed and the Hammers didn't beat around the bush with their announcement.
The Hammers posted on their website just two short paragraphs about the striker's departure and didn't even give so much a thank you to the petulant forward, who has now got his wish to move for the riches of the Far East.
The short statement said: "West Ham United can confirm that Marko Arnautovic has joined Chinese Super League champions Shanghai SIPG for an undisclosed fee.
"The 30-year-old Austrian departs after two seasons at London Stadium, during which he scored 22 goals in 65 appearances in Claret and Blue."
That undisclosed fee is believed to be for £22.5m, far less than the Hammers wanted to get but they have bit the bullet to get rid of a disruptive player that manager Manuel Pellegrini and his now former teammates didn't want around the squad.
Arnautovic indicated he wanted to leave the club last month, the second time he has done that in 2019 and just seven months after penning a new £120,000 a week contract extension in the capital.
The striker was brought to the club in 2017 by Slaven Bilic for a then club-record fee of £25m, £20m initially and football.london understands that the the £25m wasn't reached during the Austrian's two-year stay in the capital.
After starting slowly in the capital, it was the arrival of David Moyes that saw Arnautovic transformed into a centre forward and he bagged 11 goals in each of his two seasons at the club.
Back in January, Arnautovic's brother Danijel went on national radio to demand the Hammers allow the frontman to leave but they rejected a £30.5m from another Chinese club. West Ham valued Arnautovic at £40m at the start of the year and that was never met.
But now they have accepted nearly half of that price to get rid of the frontman.
