West Ham have decided that they will not sell Marko Arnautovic to Manchester United this summer, according to Guardian reporter Jacob Steinberg.
The reliable journalist claimed on his personal Twitter account on Thursday morning that things “can change” however the London club are adamant that the Austria international is a key player and will not be allowed to leave.
Just to reiterate on Arnautovic, West Ham have emphatically said he won’t be sold to Manchester United this summer. Obviously it’s football and things can change but view is he’s far too important to let go #whufc #mufc
— Jacob Steinberg (@JacobSteinberg) May 31, 2018
Sky Sports reported in a shock update on Wednesday that Man United were interested in signing Arnautovic, with the Hammers slapping a £50million valuation on the attacker who only signed from Stoke last season.
Football.London reported that the ex-Inter Milan attacker was handed a deal worth £85,000-a-week at the London Stadium when he joined from Stoke in a deal worth £25million.
OPINION
Arnautovic had a slow start to life at West Ham after sealing a big-money move from the Bet365 Stadium. There were claims that the amount of money spent on the Austria international was a major overspend by the London club, and that was initially backed up when he was sent off in his second appearance as a West Ham player. It took until December for him to score his first Hammers goal, and that sparked a major U-turn in his form as he went on to score 11 Premier League goals for David Moyes’ side. Without his goals, West Ham could have been relegated so in theory that £25million was a wise spend. Man United’s interest is a major surprise though, especially given that fact that Jose Mourinho has claimed he “has the mentality of a child” from his time at Inter Milan. £50million should be enough to scare off United though and it would be a shock to see if Arnautovic wanted to join a manager who has so publically ridiculed him in the past.