West Ham United have had their fair share of bad signings over the years but is Marko Arnautovic 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.
And a decent performance against Championship whipping boys Bolton aside, Bilic has seen little 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.
“I like him as a player, but sometimes he gets happy with the few things that he does when I want him to push the borders,” Bilic said of Arnautovic last month.
Since then Arnautovic has put in a terrible display against bitter rivals Tottenham Hotspur, cried off before kick-off in the crucial game against Swansea City with a bug and was dragged off at half-time against Burnley last time out.
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.
And there’s always Marco Boogers.
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