West Ham were worried Marko Arnautovic would go on STRIKE if he stayed at the club beyond the transfer deadline.
The bad-boy Austrian forward sealed a £22.5million move to Chinese club Shanghai SiPG on Tuesday with the Hammers fuming at losing money on the deal.
Arnautovic had slapped in a formal transfer request in a bid to force their hand after Shanghai had tabled a bid of more than £12m less than the Londoners’ valuation for the player.
But West Ham had no option but to sell, with manager Manuel Pellegrini and their other players fearing the 30-year-old would allow his commitment to dip — as it is claimed he did after he was denied a move to another Chinese Super League club, Guangzhou Evergrande, in January.
The former Stoke star, wanted to avail himself of the wages of around £200,000-a-week in China and is understood to have sulked after seeing a move vetoed.
Arnautovic went on to sign a contract extension worth about £130,000 a week, but did not regain his best form on a consistent basis. He was left out of four matches and scored only three times over the rest of the season, having netted seven goals before the winter window.
West Ham, in for Celta Vigo striker Maxi Gomez, wanted to resist selling Arnautovic unless they raked around £45m and were intent on digging their heels in because his previous club Stoke are due 20 per cent of the profit on any deal.
The acrimony surrounding his departure was clear in the statement released by the club to confirm Arnautovic had left the club — just two sentences in which West Ham neither thanked the player for his service nor wished him luck in the future, as is traditional with most transfers.
It read only: "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."
