Payet was incredibly difficult to replace but Arnautovic can give West Ham United what they never got from the Frenchman.
Dimitri Payet lit up West Ham United during his 18-month stay with the club, demonstrating the ability that rarely gets seen outside of England’s top six.
Payet had carved out a decent reputation for himself in France, but his explosion in the Premier League came out of nowhere. He was, after all, an £11million 28-year-old with roughly a dozen France caps and signed without competition.
He was brilliant, exciting and charismatic in his football until it fell away. He may have been the star at West Ham but he did not settle long enough, nor show the right attitude, to have the team built around him properly, robbing the club of an opportunity to get the most from their find.
Marko Arnautovic’s £20million signing from Stoke City was relatively similar; the Austrian arrived as a 28-year-old with a good but not great reputation and, much like Payet, was known for an attitude that teams could be sure to see both good and bad from.
His slow start to the season originally made the switch look like a mistake but his second-half turnaround saw Arnautovic named ‘Hammer of the Year’ as well as become the first West Ham player to reach 11 Premier League goals in over a decade.
He has quickly developed into a player the team can truly rely upon, not just game by game, but long term, too.
“First of all, I want to apologise for the first three months!” he said. “I tried to work hard and give everything and I want to thank my teammates and the fans for everything. Thank you and enjoy your holidays!”
Those are the words of someone West Ham can build a team around. He wants to be there, he wants to improve, and he is ready to acknowledge where he went wrong.
The Hammers attacker may not quite generate the excitement or wow-factor of Payet, but Arnautovic is giving West Ham something far more important – an opportunity to progress.
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