Marko Arnautovic, the 28-year-old forward, plying his trade at Stoke City, has handed in a transfer request and could be on the move this summer. Stoke City boss Mark Hughes is reluctant to let go of the player and has slapped a whopping £20m price tag on the player to ward off suitors.
He said: “My stance is clear and he understands where I’m coming from. My thinking is that we don’t want to lose him, we don’t have to lose him. Ultimately it will be a club decision if we do feel if it’s right for us.”
“Players can realise that maybe their view or the people around them’s view on what’s best for them is sometimes incorrect.
“My view is that Arnie would be best served to stay with Stoke and understanding what he’s got here and what we offer him here to allow him to be successful. Maybe, he won’t quite replicate that elsewhere.”
The Austrian forward, equally at ease in an attacking midfield role, be it on the flanks or down the middle, has betrayed a sense of disgruntlement at Stoke’s apparent reluctance in letting him move on. The forward has accused Stoke of going back on their word in doing so, as he was promised during his four-year extension last summer that his wish to seek a transfer to another club would be respected if such a situation arose.
Austrian legend Andreas Herzog has been building up his 28-year-old compatriot for some time now and is convinced the forward should play for the top dogs of Premier League à la Arsenal or Tottenham.
“With all due respect for Stoke, it is not the club in which Arnautovic should continue to play, with his qualities, for a long time, said the 48-year old former Austrian international.
“With his potential, he belongs to Arsenal or Tottenham, in the Premier League, and he is. Marko is great, tactically top-trained, has a robust body.
“I’ve been comparing Arnautovic with Zlatan Ibrahimovic for years and I’ll stand by that, even though Marko is missing the goals.”
Under this backdrop it is safe to say that the player’s future is up for speculation and Stoke hold the key to it, considering the player is contracted to them till 2020.
Last summer Arnautovic courted interest from Ronald Koeman’s Everton but instead chose to extend his contract with Stoke in a lucrative deal. But the forward is said to be frustrated at the obvious lack of ambition at his present club and wants to desperately move to greener pastures. With the likes of West Ham United, Paris Saint-Germain and AC Milan interested in securing the player’s services, a move could well be on the cards.
Signed for a paltry £2m sum from Werder Bremen, the 28-year-old was subject to a recent £15m bid by West Ham United which was rejected by the Bet365 Stadium outfit who are holding out for a fee in the region of £20m. Arnautovic could be a valuable addition to Slaven Bilic’s side, on the lookout to bolster their attacking options for quite some time now.
AC Milan who are on a rebuilding spree could be a possible destination for the Austrian who notched up 7 goals and 5 assists in 34 appearances for the Potteries.
Heavily linked with Everton last season, it remains to be seen whether Koeman still reserves an interest in the forward after considerably adding to his squad in the wake of Lukaku’s departure.
