Andy Cole slammed Marko Arnautovic for committing himself to West Ham after previously making it clear that he wanted a move to China.
The Hammers forward took to Instagram late on Friday, as transcribed by the Guardian, to confirm that while a tempting offer had emerged for him, that he just wanted to focus on helping the London club.
Cole claimed that Arnautovic seemed desperate for a move to China last week and that he suspected that something has clearly gone wrong for him to publicly change his tune.
“Something has gone on as last week he said he wanted to go to China and win things, then a week later he has made his mind up and doesn’t want to go to China and win things,” said Cole on Sky Sports’ The Debate (Sky Sports Premier League, Friday January 25th, 22:24).
“Now something has gone wrong, me personally if I was in that position by being so desperate to go last week and he said, be honest come out and say it’s a lot of money and I would like to go for financial reasons.
“This week everyone is looking at it totally different cause last week he was honest but this week everyone is saying do you think we’re stupid?”
OPINION
Cole blasts Arnautovic in his verdict on the player’s U-turn for his lack of honesty but at the end of the day, the attacker’s lengthy Instagram post does acknowledge he was tempted to leave. It’s odd that the retired Premier League attacker is kind of disapproving of Arnautovic trying to squash any speculation about his future, as while it’s his own doing, he has to find himself a way out of the difficult situation he has created for himself. Arnautovic’s agent and brother Danijel did previously make it clear when talking to talkSPORT that his sibling wanted to go to China after an offer had come in from a Super League side. However if Cole is right with his suspicions that something has gone wrong with a potential deal, which has caused it to be off the cards, it’s unclear what he expected him to do. Arnautovic wouldn’t want to rot in the reserves and see his good work at the Hammers’ undone, so coming out and pledging his allegiance is the first step to ensuring that situation doesn’t occur.