Former Premier League striker and broadcast pundit Chris Sutton has slaughtered the desire of West Ham’s Marko Arnautovic to move to China by describing him as “greedy”.
There has been plenty of speculation over the future of the Austrian in east London, with claims from the Daily Mail that Chinese Super League side Guangzhou Evergrande had tabled a big money bid in terms of transfer fee and wages and that the striker was keen on a move.
Sutton, who works for BBC Radio 5 Live as well as BT Sport, claims that Arnautovic could go down in history with the Irons if he stayed and hammered his decision to want to move.
He wrote in his Daily Mail column: “Marko Arnautovic is giving professional footballers a bad name. For his agent to have said that he wants to challenge for titles in China is treating West Ham and their fans with complete and utter disdain.
“His desire for a move is fueled by nothing more than greed. If he is heading for the exit, he should show the club who helped resurrect his career a great deal more respect.
“Trying to force a move would be easier to stomach if he wanted to test himself at a bigger club. If you harbour ambitions of having a top career at the highest level, you don’t move to the Chinese league aged 29.
“West Ham are still in the FA Cup. If he inspired them to win that trophy, he would go down in the club’s history. If he does go to China he risks fading away.”
Opinion
Tell us how you really feel Chris! The former striker has torn into Arnautovic and is probably saying what a lot of fans, both at West Ham and across the globe, are thinking. The Austrian has previously expressed a desire to win trophies at the highest level and he is not going to achieve that in China, where he would no doubt rip the league to pieces with his quality. What he will get with a move to the far east is a huge payday and there is no doubting what his and his agent’s – who is also his brother – priorities are now. Sutton makes an excellent point that a cup win with the Hammers would send him down as an Irons legend. Now he is just facing being thrown into the same category as Dimitri Payet, who quickly went from hero to villain in east London. Arnautovic probably deserves more for waht he has done, but there can be no questioning his motives are in the wrong place for a top class footballer.