Paul Merson has insisted Marko Arnautovic can’t be blamed for pining for a Champions League club and claimed he would walk into “any team in the top six”.
The high-profile pundit warned the Austria international not to upset the West Ham fans by publicly trying to engineer his transfer.
But Merson is convinced Arnautovic could be heading out of the London Stadium in January if a club make a £50million-plus offer.
“Arnautovic could easily get into any team in the top six and I wouldn’t be surprised if he is playing for one of them by the end of January,” Merson told the Daily Star.
“He says he wants to leave West Ham and play in the Champions League and you can’t really blame him. He should be playing for a bigger club.
“He’s good enough to get into the Manchester City team, at least as a squad player. And he would walk into Manchester United’s team. Arsenal? They would take him. Chelsea? Them too.
“I could see United coming back in for him in January. West Ham will talk tough but they are in it to make money. If they can get £50-60m for him they would drop him off themselves.”
OPINION
Merson’s comments are unlikely to go down too well with the Hammers faithful, but that doesn’t mean they’re not close to the mark. The former England international shoots from the hip and says it as he sees it, but is he wrong to claim Arnautovic could leave in January? Not really. Dmitri Payet did, as soon as West Ham could find a club willing to match their £30million asking price and enable them to make a tasty profit. The signs are Arnautovic, who joined for a fee rising to £24million in the summer of 2017, could make West Ham an even bigger profit than the feted Payet did in the last but one winter window. Could Arnautovic walk into any team in the top six. He might struggle to make the Liverpool and City starting XIs, but he would lead the line or be an outstanding wide forward option for the rest. Certainly, he would be a matchday-18 regular at every club in the land. He is fast, technically excellent, strong as an ox and has the swagger of all top players. Like a fine wine, he is ageing well and playing the best football of his career.