New voice joins the Arnie debate
The former Hammers player and assistant boss under David Moyes was part of the set up under which we saw the striker transformed from the wing to central striker.
And speaking on talkSPORT, Pearce cast doubts over the Austrian’s future starting by saying: “You’ve probably got to outline to Marko (how important he is).
“In my opinion Marko wasn’t the player (he is now, compared to the start of my time at West Ham). He owes a lot to David Moyes for playing him up front as a centre forward and also probably owes a lot to West Ham.
“The fans love him there, he’s almost like a (Paolo) Di Canio type you know maverick type player and you’ve got to make sure he’s valued I think.
“That’s really important that he knows how valued he is.
“(But) I think in modern day football if players want moves or not if someone comes down and puts enough money on the table at West Ham, money talks doesn’t it. He’s gone.”
ClaretandHugh says: It comes as no surprise that Stuart Pearce should draw attention to David Moyes’ decision to deploy Arnie as a central striker. It did of course transform his game and present the team and club with a much needed talisman following the unpleasant departure earlier of Dimitri Payet. Arnie’s brother was a little too vociferous for most people’s liking in the summer and now with a new transfer window around the corner this sort of scenario was always on the cards. It’s a part of football to be hated. It’s destabilising and it’s the price we pay for a game that has become all about “show me the money” rather than honouring of contracts which in this case has four years to run. The debate about Arnautovic’s future will no doubt run until the end of the window but for what it’s worth we see no way he will leave before the summer if then. Will any team pay the £50 million the Hammers are likely to want for a 30 year old. Debatable. I just hope that a sense of decency prevails in this although the opening signs aren’t encouraging.