West ham United hero Tony Cottee has criticised Hammers attacker Marko Arnautovic for his behaviour amid his recent transfer saga.
The Austrian has missed the past few games while speculation has swirled over his future, and Cottee believes that the player did the club a disservice.
“Any player is going to have their head turned by the amount of money that was on offer in China,” he told talkSPORT. “But the one thing that disappoints me is that the club should say to the player, ‘If it happens it happens, but in the meantime you’re still a West Ham player, get your head down and play football.’
“He should have been playing against Wimbledon at the weekend – if Arnautovic played, West Ham go through. He’ll say, ‘But I’m not in the right frame of mind’, but, I’m sorry, I don’t get that. You’re getting paid good money and you’re a West Ham player, get on with it and play your football. That’s what he should have done.”
OPINION
Cottee is bang on the money, here. It’s fair enough that Arnautovic’s head was turned by the money on offer in China, he’s only human after all, but he should have conducted himself better. This whole ‘not in the right frame of mind’ thing is just bizarre. It’s something that has crept up in football in recent years and it’s just not good enough. If you’re being paid thousands of pounds a week then the least you can do is turn up and play on match days, not matter what transfer speculation surrounds you. Cottee is right, that’s what Arnautovic should have done. He should have carried on playing while the interest from China was dealt with. If the Chinese club really wanted him then they would have stumped up the fee that West Ham were looking for. In the meantime he keeps things cordial with the supporters and the club in case the move falls through – which it did, of course. It’s not rocket science, but greed is a big part of football these days and it does affect players’ actions.
