Manchester United are preparing a £50million January move for West Ham United attacker Marko Arnautovic, according to the Mirror.
The newspaper claims that Red Devils boss Jose Mourinho sees the Austrian international as the perfect player to spark his side’s top four hopes into life.
It is said that United were interested in the 29-year-old in the summer but that they ultimately decided against making a move for the former Stoke City man.
Arnautovic’s representatives have been made aware of United’s interest and are understood to be open to discussing the move.
Good move for West Ham?
Yes and no. £50million would be an extraordinary amount of money to receive for a player who will soon be in his thirties, but on the other hand Arnautovic is the Hammers’ single most important player and they would be a significantly worse team without him. The money would be good for the club and would allow Manuel Pellegrini to make a few more additions, but West Ham would be hard pressed to find a player of Arnautovic’s calibre who wants to play for them. Ultimately if the player really wants to leave then the Hammers should take the £50million and run, but they would do so knowing that they’re losing their best player. This is a tough one.
This is Futbol rating: 5/10
Likely to happen?
Well, Arnautovic’s camp are interested in the move and it certainly sounds as if Mourinho is keen to bring him in so there’s no reason why not. United can buy players from clubs like West Ham all day long if they really want to so it probably solely rests on the intensity of their interest.
This is Futbol rating: 7/10