Hammers set to go again in Arnautovic chase

The Mirror’s Darren Lewis is tonight reporting the Hammers second bid for Stoke City’s Marko Arnautovic  was pitched at £17 million – not the £20 million reported elsewhere.

The Potters bought the Austrian international for £2 million and have let it leak that they want in the region of £25 million but will presumably settle at around £20 million.

Lewis – who has good contacts with the Hammers – can be trusted when negotiations reach this intensity and confirms the first offer was indeed £15 million.

Arnautovic has already handed in an official transfer request and is desperately keen to move to the London Stadium.

The Mirror report says Slaven Bilic wants to stick with the 3-4-3 formation and sees the Austrian  as being perfect for his system.

The formation saw West Ham finish last season strongly with just one defeat in seven.

And such is Bilic’s enthusiasm to land the player that the Hammers can now be expected to return with an offer of around the £20 million which would probably land him