Marko Arnautovic was reportedly keen on a move to China earlier this month as his team suffered a defeat at Wolverhampton Wanderers on Tuesday.
Cardiff City defender Sol Bamba has claimed that recent speculation surrounding Marko Arnautovic is the reason behind West Ham’s recent run of bad results.
BBC Sport reported earlier that the 29-year-old opted to stay at the London Stadium despite an offer from China, with the club’s star man originally stating that he wanted to move.
On Tuesday night, Arnautovic returned to Manuel Pellegrini’s starting XI, but his side were well beaten in the Premier League by high-flying Wolves at Molineux.
That result followed their surprising FA Cup exit at the weekend when League One side AFC Wimbledon knocked them out of the competition in spectacular fashion.
Premier League rival Bamba offered his thoughts on West Ham’s recent run of form as he felt that the Arnautovic speculation played its part.
Bamba was asked: What sort of impact will have the Arnie situation have had on the team? “It would have been a big, even for the team,” Bamba told Sky Sports News on 30/01/2019 at 10:55 am. “Maybe that is the reason why they have been having a bad run, at the minute.
“He is a big player for them. He is important and when you hear he’s probably going to go [to China] then it is always going to have an impact on the team.”
Austria international Arnautovic, who is earning £100k-a-week at the London Stadium, according to Sportac, has been a key figure for the Hammers in these past 18 months.
Following his move from then-Premier League side Stoke City during the summer of 2017, Arnautovic initially struggled to prove his worth on the left-hand side under the stewardship of then-manager Slaven Bilic.
However, upon David Moyes’ arrival in November, the Scotsman moved him into a more central role, and as a result, he is proving to be more of an attacking threat in the final third.
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