Marko Arnautovic will complete a transfer from West Ham to Shanghai SIPG by Saturday, according to the Sun.
The newspaper claim the Austrian striker will get his wish to swap London for the China “before the end of the week” following a rapid progression of talks in recent days.
The Sun report a deal between the two clubs “is now close” and Arnautovic will finalise a move worth more than £35million before West Ham travel to Bournemouth for Saturday’s 3pm kick-off.
OPINION
Wow. That was quick. Given that West Ham vice-chairman Karren Brady is a long-time columnist in the Sun, you don’t require the deduction capabilities of Hercule Poirot to conclude that this story could have been verified by someone who really should know what is going on. West Ham fans should be up in arms about the prospect of losing their best player at the midway point of the season. It clearly shows the club hierarchy have given Arnautovic the green light to exit, and it is likely they had done so before the player and his agent brother released that bombshell statement last Thursday. In the smoke-and-mirror world of big-money transfers, nothing is as it seems, and there is a fairly good chance that the West Ham top brass are eager to take the money, and a monster profit, on a player they signed for £24million in the summer of 2017 and who is set to blow out 30 candles on his birthday cake in April.