Former West Ham United player Hayden Mullins have been blown away by current striker Marko Arnautovic and has labelled him as the “leading light”.
The ex-Hammers man says that the team need to be built around the first team ace, especially if they manage to keep a hold of his services in the January transfer window.
Mullins admits that it would be a tough job to retain him at the London Stadium if Champions League football came knocking – but then added that it would be harder for him to force an exit if he commits himself to the cause now.
“He’s been a leading light, last season especially and most of this season. That’s the one thing the club have got to fight against. If someone offers you Champions League football, it’s going to be so tough to tie him down,” Mullins told Sky Sports.
“But if they can get him committing to the club, it will be tougher for him to leave. He’s one you have to try and build the team around.”
OPINION
Mullins is right – it is going to be extremely hard to convince the Austrian international to stay if a club that offers Champions League football comes knocking in January. This will no doubt be very tempting for Arnautovic, and a player of his talent definitely deserves to be playing at that sort of level. Whether he will be persuaded to stay is another question – but West Ham surely know that his days are numbered at the club. They must recognise that their forward is deserving of more, rather than staying put at a club that is realistically not going to challenge for silverware any time soon. The fans obviously love Arnautovic for what he has done for the club in recent times, so it is not difficult to say that they would be absolutely gutted if he was to leave – they do not have another talisman in the team like him and he would be a massive loss.
