Former West Ham United manager David Moyes has raved about striker Marko Arnautovic but said how much he would be missed by the club if he left.
Arnautovic has been linked to a move to China in this current transfer window – a £35 million bid from Shanghai SIPG was rejected by the Irons [Daily Mail] – and Moyes believes that the Austrian has the quality and ability to play for a top Premier League side like Chelsea.
Despite saying that the Hammers could benefit from the funds received for Arnautovic’s potential switch, Moyes says that the star – who has made 18 appearances in all competitions this season – would be a huge miss if he did end up leaving.
“Marko Arnautovic was always a good player. When he became a central striker he flourished in it. He’s got real power, pace, he can receive the ball, he can beat people,” he said on BBC Radio 5 Live [2:53:24].
“He could easily play for Chelsea because of the way he can take the ball and his link up. If you look at his career he’s had some big clubs. And he’s getting to an age where has matured from the early days.
“It would be a massive miss if West Ham let him go. The profit West Ham could make on Marko wouldn’t be a bad thing but I have to say it would be a really big miss.”
OPINION
Who knows at this moment in time where Arnautovic will end up this month? He no doubt wants to push through a move to China as soon as he can, but seeing as West Ham have rejected the latest bid, the hope of that happening is slowly dwindling. He missed the last clash against Bournemouth and it remains to be seen whether he will miss this weekend’s FA Cup clash against AFC Wimbledon too. Some fans may argue that he is not in the right frame of mind to be playing if he is wanting to leave the club, so it is up to Manuel Pellegrini whether he takes the risk to play him. Moyes is right though – Arnautovic does have the quality to play for a team like Chelsea, especially now he is thriving ever since Moyes converted him to the central striker role. Like he pointed out, he would be a huge miss for the Hammers – but who knows what his future holds.
