Arnautovic looks set to remain at West Ham, after a move to China failed to materialise.
David Connolly has told Love Sport Radio that Marko Arnautovic needs to take a lesson from Manchester City attacker Riyad Mahrez, as the Austrian looks to remain at West Ham United.
Arnautovic, 29, was linked with a big-money move to Chinese Super League sides Shanghai SIPG and Guangzhou Evergrande, but neither club were willing to meet West Ham United’s asking price of £45million.
The former Stoke City star’s brother and agent had stated that Arnautovic wanted to leave to go to China before a deal had been completed, and that looks as if it may come back to bite the Hammers no.7 as a deal has not gone through.
Mahrez was linked with a move to Manchester City but had to wait until the summer of 2018 to complete his £60million move to The Etihad from Leicester City (Telegraph), and Connolly believes Arnautovic should follow Mahrez.
“Arnautovic obviously didn’t want to go for sporting reasons,” Connolly said. “Refusing to play is obviously a real negative. If I was him, I’d be thinking Riyad Mahrez was in a similar situation. He buckled down, got on and played.
“He sulked for a couple of days and then he was back and in amongst the team. They welcomed him with open arms and he got his move to Manchester City. That would be the right way to go about it.”
Arnautovic was left out of the squad that lost 2-0 to AFC Bournemouth over the weekend, but has returned to training ahead of Saturday’s trip to AFC Wimbledon in the fourth round of the FA Cup.
Since joining West Ham in the summer of 2017, Arnautovic has scored 19 West Ham goals in 53 games as well as adding 10 assists. He has become a fan favourite at the London Stadium.
It looks increasingly likely that Arnautovic will remain at West Ham until the end of the season, with only a week remaining in the January transfer window.
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