Arnautovic asks to leave West Ham after Chinese club bid £19.7m

Marko Arnautovic has again asked to leave West Ham United after the club rejected a €22 million (£19.7million) bid to sign him.

West Ham regarded the offer from a Chinese club as derisory for a player of Arnautovic’s quality. Sources close to the striker say he has handed in a formal transfer request but West Ham, while aware of his desire to leave, have not received anything in writing yet.

The fee that has been turned down is less than West Ham paid for Arnautovic when he signed for them from Stoke City in July 2017 for an initial £20million. It is also less than West Ham rejected from two unnamed Chinese clubs who offered £35 million for the 30-yearold during the January transfer window.

Despite trying to force his way out at that time, Arnautovic eventually signed a contract extension, and received a pay rise, when he said he wanted to “put a stop” to speculation over his future. That came even though his brother and agent, Danijel, said he should be allowed to leave because West Ham bought him for “peanuts” and Arnautovic pleaded with the club to sell him.

West Ham responded by declaring that Arnautovic would be expected to honour his contract. Privately, though, the club were unhappy with his behaviour and also expected him to try to make the move at the end of the season.

It remains to be seen how they react to a transfer request being submitted – the forward stopped short of doing that last time – but there is an expectation that he will be sold if the price is right.