West Ham are confident of signing Stoke forward Marko Arnautovic for £24million, according to a reliable journalist.
Daily Mail sports editor Lee Clayton took to Twitter on Thursday morning to deliver an update in the club’s pursuit of the 6ft 4in front man after they reportedly had a £20million offer rejected on Wednesday.
Clayton, who is renowned for his Hammers contacts, claimed on his personal Twitter account that West Ham are ready to pay a total of £24million for the player, with £20million going to Stoke and a further £4million to his former club Werder Bremen due to a 20 per cent sell-on clause.
Latest on Arnautovic and #WHUFC: WH confident they get him, Stoke have 20pc sell-on clause to Werder and demand clearing 20m. So 24m+ fee
— Lee Clayton (@LeeClayton_) July 13, 2017
Arnautovic cost Stoke only £2million when he signed from Bundesliga club Bremen in the summer of 2013 but has developed into a dangerous Premier League forward mainly operating from the left flank.
West Ham have made a big push to sign the 28-year-old and he has handed in a transfer request to push through what is now looking increasingly likely to be the club’s record signing.
Anything above £20million would break the current record, set when Andre Ayew was signed from Swansea last summer for £20.5million.
It would also demolish Stoke’s record sale by some distance with Asmir Begovic’s £8million move to Chelsea in 2015 the highest fee the club have received for one of their players.
Arnautovic, who is contracted to Stoke until 2020, has scored 26 goals and supplied 32 assists in 145 appearances for the club.