Marko Arnautovic continued his terrible start to life at West Ham United in the 3-0 defeat to Brighton on Friday night.
West Ham have had their fair share of bad signings over the years but given his record fee, former Stoke City star Arnautovic is in danger of topping the lot.
Slaven Bilic staked his reputation on signing the inconsistent Austrian in the summer for a club record fee which could rise to £25million.
But he has seen no return on that investment yet.
It was a rare departure for the Hammers boss when he chose to publicly lambast Arnautovic over the course of several weeks after his reckless sending off in the 3-2 defeat to Southampton back in August.
Bilic also publicly warned the former Stoke hero over his expectations for West Ham‘s record buy.
But it has failed to inspire performances from the former Potters favourite who was lambasted by fans and pundits alike for another lacklustre display against Brighton.
Commentating on the game Jamie Carragher singled ‘awful’ Arnautovic out as West Ham’s worst player on the night.
And fellow Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville also blasted the Hammers flop with a cutting remark in the aftermath of the defeat.
“You were right about Arnautovic, you weren’t too tough on him at all,” Neville told Carragher on Sky Sports.
“I think you mentioned the word ‘application’ … I’ve only ever played with one player who had an excuse not to track back and that was Cristiano Ronaldo because he scored 40 goals a season.
“He’s Ronaldo in his own mind that guy, that’s his problem, he thinks he’s better than he is.”
Supporters have not taken to the attacker and he is already doing his best to eclipse West Ham‘s previous record signing Andre Ayew in the battle to be the club’s worst signing.
There are plenty who could be considered for that dubious honour but given his hefty price tag Arnautovic won’t be far off the top of the list if he continues along his current path.
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