West Ham United have signed Stoke City forward Marko Arnautovic.
Stoke City boss Mark Hughes has told the Stoke Sentinel that he feels the club have secured a ‘very, very good deal’ in selling Marko Arnautovic to West Ham United.
Arnautovic, 28, was a bargain signing from Werder Bremen back in the summer of 2013, and the former Inter Milan youngster became a key player at the bet365 Stadium.
Stoke City’s Marko Arnautovic in action with West Ham United’s Jose Fonte
Arnautovic notched 26 goals in 145 games for Stoke, with his most impressive campaign coming during the 2015/16 season, when he scored 11 goals in 34 Premier League appearances.
Whilst Stoke will have been planning for Arnautovic to enjoy a productive season next term, having hit six goals and five assists last season, the forward himself had other ideas.
Arnautovic submitted a transfer request earlier this month in a bid to leave the club for West Ham United, and he got his wish over the weekend, as the Hammers confirmed his capture on a five-year contract.
Having failed with two bids before signing him, West Ham will be delighted to have got their man – and Stoke boss Mark Hughes has now shared his thoughts on the deal.
Hughes has told the Stoke Sentinel that Arnautovic’s attempts to leave became irredeemable, and Stoke realised that there was no chance they could keep their disgruntled attacker at the club.
Stoke City manager Mark Hughes
The Welshman added that Stoke would only sell if they got a ‘very, very good deal’ for Arnautovic, and that’s exactly what he feels they got as they look to bring in a replacement this summer, armed with a reported £20million rising to £25million.
“It got to the point where it wasn’t redeemable, unfortunately,” said Hughes. “A lot of things had come to pass and the only outcome was for us to make sure we got a very, very good deal, which we as a club think we have. Marko moves on and we do,” he added.
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