Former West Ham and Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand says he believes summer signing Marko Arnautovic can go on to become a cult hero in East London, much like Italian Paolo Di Canio.
Arnautovic – who joined from Stoke City as a club record signing during the summer – has put in a string of impressive performances in recent weeks after what was a tough start to life in East London.
The Austrian scored the winner against Chelsea at the weekend, and put in a Man of the Match performance last night in a 0-0 draw with Arsenal.
After his recent upturn in form, Ferdinand believes if the former Stoke man keeps it up, he can make a name for himself at the London Stadium.
He said, as quoted by HITC: “West Ham always seem to find a maverick. Di Canio, Payet…. this man can really step into that role. I’m not saying he’ll be as good as those two, if he does that’ll be fantastic, but I think he wants to be the go-to guy and he’ll thrive off the responsibility.”
Arnautovic travels to his former side Stoke City this weekend as the Hammers look to avoid defeat for the third consecutive game.
