Former Hammers striker Carlton Cole doesn’t believe Marko Arnautovic is actively looking to leave the club declaring: “He’s loved here.”
Talking on Sky Sports Cole said: “I don’t see any reason why he should be leaving the club. Everyone knows what he’s capable of here and I think we’ll see him stay.
“If he does go, it will be a great loss to West Ham, but we always find a way to carry on. We always do.
“I don’t want him to leave. I don’t think the club will let him leave, because he’s our main player.”
He added: “Do you know what, he’s happy at this club. I don’t think he’s looking actively to go and leave.
Cole also believes that on trial Samir Nasri is a “classy player” who would “bring something different” to the club.
He said: “I think the manager has a good relationship with him. We know his class, he’s a classy player.He will bring something different to the squad and he has that experience too.
“It will be a great addition to the squad but it depends what the manager wants and what the owners want.”
ClaretandHugh says: It’s always nice to hear encouraging words from a club loyalist like Carlton who has nothing but the Hammers’ best interests at heart. After a week to ten days of negativity over the Nasri and Arnautovic scenarios that CC should take to Sky Sports to speak positively about the situations is encouraging. However, with Arnie refusing to commit one way or the other in his latest statement on the future and with Nasri only just starting out on a trial with the club, we need to get a sense of perspective here.We all want Arnie to stay – an absolute given and I have always believed Samir Nasri to be a great player at his best. Whether he can still find it remains very much a vexed question and one which in no way should be related to an £80k a week wage packet. Like Carlton, we hope for the best but for now we would probably be best off letting Pellegrini and the board deal with both developments quietly and way from more headlines.