The West Ham United striker was heavily linked with an exit from the club earlier this month.
West Ham boss Manuel Pellegrini spoke to reporters today, and shared what he expects from Marko Arnautovic, after the Austrian signed a new deal with the club, although he refused to confirm that the striker will still be at the club beyond the end of this season, as quoted by Football.London.
It seemed for all the world that the 29-year-old would be leaving this month, after the Hammers received a £35 million bid for his services from an unnamed Chinese club, according to BBC Sport.
Arnautovic then signed a contract extension with West Ham, putting to bed talk of him leaving in the process.
Or did it?
Pellegrini was asked by reporters today what he expects to see from the Austria international, as quoted by Football.London:
“I expect it from every player, not just Marko, to play as high performance as the player can give you. Every player is the same, Marko has already demonstrated what he can do.”
He was then asked whether Arnie will stay beyond the end of the season:
“We can talk about that at the end of the season.”
The 29-year-old certainly has a lot to prove now, not only to the manager and his teammates, but also to the West Ham fans who once idolised him.
It will be interesting to see the reception that he gets from the Hammers faithful when he next plays, but the only way to endear himself to the supporters once again will be to put in 100 per cent effort in every single game.
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