So £20m buys a CL player does it Danijel?

So it starts to look like he’s worth no more than £20 million and given we are talking the Chinese market Danijel Arnautovic begins to look a bigger fool than ever.

Do you remember  him claiming last year that this was a Champions League striker when trying desperately to drum up interest from Manchester United?

And only yesterday he was gobbing off about his one and only ‘client’ saying: “He’s not a cow or a horse which you bring to market. He’s a highly talented footballer who’s simply being used by West Ham. “

Well he got the second bit right – he is being used at around £100k a week – which is actually how it works with most employees. It’s just the numbers are pretty hideous in his case.

As for the first bit yeah, ok, he has talent but then at the price we are paying for his services that goes without saying.

What Marko Arnautovic showed last season demonstrates that he most certainly is no longer a great player or of the CL quality his trouble-making brother would have us believe.

The other big problem the pair of them have is the baggage they are carrying which has probably ensured that no big club is interested given the way they first treated Stoke and now the Irons.

There now appears – thank God – to be no way he will ever wear a Hammers shirt again and one assumes his will depart – as Manuel Pellegrini did – to China but will never be heard of again. Money first…football second!

However, it also needs to be remembered that when signing a new deal in January he was told- if all the speculation is correct – that should an offer come in the summer the club would treat it seriously.

That is in fact happening but the garbage pouring out of the mouth of his brother and Marko’s obvious lack of any sort of commitment to any club marks him down as a bad apple.

The Hammers appear to believe the sooner he is removed from the barrel the better for everybody in the dressing room and beyond – reckon they have nailed it.