Marko Arnautovic is understood to have been dropped from the squad which will face Bournemouth tomorrow (Sat) according to various newspapers reports.
And as ClaretandHugh reported yesterday it now looks certain that the striker will not be moving to China in the January transfer window.
Reports have emerged in the last hour claiming the player will not be involved against the Cherries saying he is not in the right frame of mind.
If true it will be manager Manuel Pellegrini who will have made the decision as he assessed the player’s attitude on the training ground this week.
The manager had said yesterday (Fri) that he did not believe Marko would refuse to play for the club and as far as his future is concerned added that he was 100 per cent responsible for deciding whether he was allowed to move to China.
He said: “If I say the player must stay, the player will stay.
“I don’t have any problem with the club. In all the months I’ve been working here, I never had any problems with the owners about that. So they are not forcing me to sell Marko Arnautovic.
“But I think, as a manager, the best thing is to take the solution that is best for the player and the club. Both together. If they agree, we don’t have any problem to change.”
However, it is clear the club have no interest in selling him for €35 million which makes the ‘stay’ decision a lot easier and at this point there is no new offer from the unnamed Chinese outfit – believed to be Shanghai or any other outfit.
Should Pellegrini have excluded him from the squad it will send a loud and clear message to the Austrian and the rest of the squad that there’s no messing with Pellegrini who for all the calm and composed appearance is becoming seen as a tough operator.
Seems ridiculous that they would pay about 80 million in wages but not willing to offer an increase on the cost…
If the report is true?? quite right that the manager takes a strong stance. Sell him for the right price a.s.a.p. and move on. Interesting article in The Evening Standard today about Legends regarding Arnie.
I have every faith in Pellle , given the injury problems within the squad, he has managed to get the best out of the team, plus , the early signs look like the Nasri deal could be a masterstroke.
Not too sure about tomorrows game, heart says a win but head says draw.COYI
With Arni’s absence.
I hope he plays Hernandez +Antonio and not Carol.
I also hope this disruption doesn’t effect our performance.
If Pelligrini says he plays , then he plays . If he is not on the bench then Pelligrini is being tough and rightly so .
I , personally would love to see the re-emergence of AC … after so many injuries and comittment to West Ham ,,,, why not ?? .
This is on the West Ham official site:
“Chicharito has been absent for the Irons since picking up an injury in the home match with Watford in December, but the Mexican forward is nearing a return to action for the Hammers.
The squad will otherwise remain as it did for last weekend’s game against Arsenal.”.
Arnie played in that game!
And it seems Arnautovic will make way for him then if the reports are correct
Well,When Arnie was out injured for 3-4 weeks,didn’t we win all those games? And now we’ve got Nasri in the mix.Its a shame Arnautovic has to be an asshole.
I thought he would be professional lol what a big ego he has ..keep him benched til he grows up ….that will sort him