Southampton boss Mark Hughes managed West Ham United star Marko Arnautovic at Stoke City.
Mark Hughes, now the manager of Southampton, was not a very happy man when Marko Arnautovic left Stoke City for West Ham United in the summer of 2017.
Back in December 2017, Hughes, who was still in charge of Stoke at the time, claimed that he had done all he could to persuade the 28-year-old Austria international from leaving the Potters for the Hammers.
The former Manchester United forward was quoted as saying by The Daily Mail in December 2017: “People have looked at Marko for many seasons – he’s been in the Premier League now for a long time.
“Everybody has seen him and come up against him and I think he hoped he’d be going to the next level but that wasn’t the case.
“That’s why we argued ‘why are you going sideways when we would encourage you to go higher if that’s what you want to do?’”
Hughes clearly felt leaving Stoke for West Ham was a sideways move for Arnautovic, who can operate as a forward or as a winger, and perhaps he has been proven right.
After all, both West Ham and Stoke are in genuine danger of getting relegated to the Championship at the end of the season.
While the Potters are second from bottom in the Premier League table at the moment, the Hammers are just three points above them in 17th.
Sandwiched between them are Southampton, who will face fellow relegation candidates West Ham at the London Stadium in the Premier League this afternoon.
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