Darren Fletcher suggests West Ham’s Marko Arnautovic could prove one of the signings of the season

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West Ham United have signed Marko Arnautovic from Stoke City this summer in a deal that could ultimately be worth £24 million.

Darren Fletcher has told The Alan Brazil Sports Breakfast on talkSPORT (broadcast 8th August 2017; 8:15 am) that if Marko Arnautovic could enjoy some consistency during the coming campaign, West Ham could have landed themselves one of the signings of the summer.

Arnautovic has become one of Slaven Bilic’s marquee additions during this window, with the Telegraph reporting that he has arrived at the London Stadium for a fee that could eventually see Stoke City pocket £24 million.

And while Fletcher – who joined the Potters early on in the window, and thus, was Arnautovic’s teammate for a very brief period of time – suggested that there may be some concerns over his attitude, he believes that the Hammers may have pulled off a transfer masterstroke by signing the Austrian.

“I only worked with him for a small space of time at Stoke, only about a week, but there’s no doubt the talent’s there, he’s a match-winner, he is capable of anything, he’s got everything really,” he told The Alan Brazil Sports Breakfast on talkSPORT.

“His biggest question mark will be over his attitude and how often he does it. If he can put consistency together, you’re talking about the money they’ve paid, I think he’d be a fantastic signing.

“If he can string four, five, six games in a row before he has a bad day, I think West Ham will be talking about maybe one of the signings of the season.”

It is perhaps surprising to hear a player who now plays for the club that Arnautovic has left behind speaking about West Ham’s business in such positive terms – especially when they were only training alongside each other for a matter of days, and so, they may not have had the time to strike up any kind of camaraderie.

But that should perhaps give the Hammers supporters a huge amount of encouragement that they may potentially have a very good player on their hands for the coming campaign – and certainly a player that Fletcher would have liked to have stayed put this summer.