West Ham will replace Marko Arnautovic immediately if the Austria international seals a move to China this month, according to the Evening Standard.
The newspaper report that the Hammers have told Shanghai SIPG to increase their bid to around £50million to have any chance of signing the 29-year-old, who would earn £275,000-a-week in China.
The Standard claim that the Irons intend to reinvest any money they get from the sale into another striker this month, instead of waiting until the summer to do so.
A club source is quoted as saying: “If Arnautovic goes — and that will be the manager’s decision — then we will try to sign a replacement now and not wait until the summer.”
OPINION
This looks to be a sensible move in many ways from West Ham, who would be losing their best player if Arnautovic does end up leaving. Deciding not to plug that gap with around half the season still to go would be slightly foolish. There will be those that say Manuel Pellegrini does have some options available to him in Javier Hernandez, Lucas Perez and Andy Carroll, but the likelihood of any of those players fully replacing the goals and presence of Arnautovic is unlikely. This is a player who has single-handedly carried the club at points over the past year, and he must be replaced as soon as possible – but there is also a balance to be struck. The Hammers must not panic buy and bring in a player who is not suitable, or one who costs an unjustified fee. It will be a tough ask, but Pellegrini has the guile and the nouse to pick up a good replacement this month.
