Manuel Pellegrini will tell Marko Arnautovic he’s the main Hammers man next season as speculation of Manchester United interest swirls around the club.
Pellegrini sees Arnie as the No 1 striker and pivotal to all his attacking options alongside Chicharito. His his first major job is to convince both of them they are the No 1 strike formation next season.
He will be having one on one talks with both men as he gets down to business at the club when he returns from his summer break in Chile.
The new Hammers boss has based all his summer transfer plans on having the pair available and is looking at the defence and midfield as his priority areas as a result.
He is set to impress on the Hammer of the Year of his importance to the team where his name would be the first on his team sheet whenever he is fit.
And Arnie will know should any United bid emerge he could find it difficult to dislodge either £200,000 a week Romelu Lukaku or £350k a week Alexis Sanchez from the team with Marchus Rashford and Anthony Martial waiting in the wings.
I don’t see Pellegrini starting both Arnie and Hernandes in too many games. He is likely to play 4 – 2 – 3 – 1 from the beginning, and only Arnie has it all for that. Hernandes doesn’t contribute enough to the overal team performance to warrant a place in that formation.
He does on the other hand have to keep them both sweet till the end of the window, if he doesn’t want to waste time and effort looking for a replacement.
We can do well with the strikers we have got this coming season, only if he keeps hold of Antonio, who gives us more of certain things that the others don’t give us. He is brilliant in the air, he is aggressive and physical, he has pace, and not a little touch and ball control. He scares defences. We need him too.