West Ham should not let Marko Arnautovic leave the club for anything less than £60 million, according to club legend Frank McAvennie.
The Austrian forward has been the subject of £35 million bid from an unnamed Chinese club, and his agent has claimed that the 29-year-old is keen to leave London, according to talkSPORT.
McAvennie, who scored 26 times for the Hammers in their most successful top flight season ever in 1986, suggests that the forward is worth far more, and should not leave the club at all.
Speaking to talkSPORT, he said: “Listen, if he’s adamant to go, West Ham should’ve put a release clause in his contract for £60million.
“But Mr [David] Sullivan and [David] Gold are not going to sell Arnie for £35million, not a chance. For £60million, they might let him go if that’s what he wants to do.”
He added: “Stay and make a name for yourself at West Ham – and have the big clubs fight for you. He keeps on kissing the badge and doing the Hammers sign, it’s time to show a wee bit of loyalty.
“He’s a good player. His brother is talking nonsense about medals and all that – they buy medals over there! You’ll get a medal just for going there. It’s the wrong thing to do.”
OPINION
It must be frustrating from McAvennie’s point of view to see a player disregard the club that he loves so dearly when tempted by the promise of nothing but cold hard cash, but it’s understandable that Arnautovic has had his head turned. Maybe it is a sign that the game has gone, but players are not motivated by the same loyalties that they were back in the 80s, and if a player like the 29-year-old is presented with an opportunity to make an incomprehensible amount of cash in a far easier league, he is bound to think twice about the offer. It would be nice to think that the Hammers meant so much to the Austrian that he would turn his nose up at such a lucrative offer, but realistically, that’s never going to happen. Instead, the Irons must fight to keep him, and if they are to do so, slapping a £60 million price tag on his head might be the best way to go about it.