OPINION
West Ham United will have been fearing the worst when striker Marko Arnautovic left Molineux in a protective boot on Tuesday night.
The Austria international limped off in the second half after taking a heavy blow to his foot to rub salt in the wound of an embarrassing 3-0 defeat to Wolves.
There have been reports today suggesting the club were worried about a potential broken foot for the 29-year-old, but a major update from football.london correspondent Sam Inkersole seems to ease those fears.
Am told Marko Arnautovic’s foot injury isn’t as bad as initially feared. Heavy bruising and swelling to his right foot but nothing broken. #WHUFC
— Sam Inkersole (@Sam_InkersoleTM) January 30, 2019
While the injury still does not sound particularly good, it looks as though Arnautovic has avoided a fracture which would have put him out of action for several weeks, or even months.
That is not only good news in footballing terms, with the club dependent on Arnautovic for his goals, but also in transfer terms, with the club now unlikely to be forced into a deadline day scramble to sign a replacement.
As previously reported by the Daily Mail, the club have been preparing to launch a last-gasp move to sign another striker over fears that Arnautovic could be out for much of the rest of the season.
Such a move now looks unnecessary, with Arnautovic set for a quicker return than expected, meaning players like Javier Hernandez can step up for now.
The avoidance of such a stressful deadline day will be a massive help to manager Manuel Pellegrini, who has endured a January to forget.
The Chilean can now hopefully focus on his current squad and what needs to be done to get them playing good football again after some really poor results in recent weeks.
