Manuel Pellegrini has admitted Marko Arnautovic is a “difficult” character to manage but backs him to continue his progress as a striker.
The boss believes it’s important for him to have another full season scoring goals adding: “Marko has character, a difficult character, he always trying to give all of him because it is the way he feels the football,”
Speaking to the London Evening Standard ahead of the game against Brighton tonight he said: ““I think in the way he has more years he is controlling more himself, so I hope we will not have any problems.”
The Austrian’s difficult start at the club saw him as part of a 3-0 drubbing by Brighton at the London Stadium last season which led Gary Neville to declare: “That guy is Ronaldo in his own mind. That’s the problem, he thinks he is better than he is.”
How wrong can you be but that performance was soon followed by Slaven Bilic’s departure and since then Arnautovic has bagged 15 Premier League goals and gone on to captain the side in Mark Noble’s absence.
Pellegrini said: “I had seen the last season Marko did as a No9, of course. I think that was important for him to continue in the same position, not to change him.
“Marko needs a complete season, scoring the way he did in part of the last season.”