Teddy Sheringham shared that he thought West Ham had to sort out Marko Arnautovic’s situation at the club one way or another.
Sky Sports reported on Tuesday that West Ham had rejected a £19.7million from a Chinese Super League club and also claimed that the 30-year-old forward was determined to leave east London during this summer’s transfer window.
Ian Abrahams took the opportunity to ask Sheringham about the Arnautovic saga, which had unfolded ahead of his interview with him, and the former Hammers attacker made it clear that Manuel Pellegrini’s side needs players committed to the cause.
“Erm yeah, sometimes it happens like that at football clubs, you sign an extra year, you get big money, maybe they’ll say to him we need you this year but if a club comes in for you next year then we’ll sell you, but y’know everybody’s happy, they paid him more money until the end of last season and that’s how it works at a football club,” said Sheringham in an interview with Abrahams, which was uploaded to the broadcaster’s personal Instagram account.
“But at the same time, if that hasn’t been the case and West Ham don’t want him to go then he doesn’t have to go, if the offer isn’t as big as it was before, whatever they’re offering for Marko then West Ham don’t have to take that money.
“It’ll be interesting but you can’t just keep going on and on every six month ‘I want out’, ‘I want more money’, it doesn’t work, it doesn’t sit nicely with the fans, not the working-class fans at West Ham anyway, I know them very well.
“You don’t want that ongoing consistently every transfer window, you want it sorted, want to play for us or not? Can you give us your all? That’s what we want to see, someone giving 100% for our team.”
Abrahams then asked Sheringham whether West Ham were better off cutting their ties and looking for another striker, but the former Hammers forward suggested Arnautovic’s future depended on him.
“That all depends on Marko’s attitude, does he want to leave? Does he see himself going to China? Does he want to play for West Ham on the money that he is on? Is he going to constantly keep having his head turned? I don’t know?” responded Sheringham.
“You’ve got to ask him that question. Do you want to stay? Do you want to play for us? If not take the money, get him out and move on.”
OPINION
Sheringham is spot-on here, as he is not ready to write Arnautovic off just yet. The Hammers don’t want to be forced to sell the 30-year-old on the cheap, and that means there is a chance he could end up staying. However, if the 30-year-old is to stick around, his attitude needs to be sorted out. While Hammers fans will be unforgiving regarding Arnautovic, as this isn’t the first time there have been reports suggesting he wants out, if he turns up for the opening game against Manchester City and noticeably gives 100%, he could still have a future at the London Stadium. When Arnautovic is at his best and fully focused, he is an asset to Pellegrini’s team. Arnautovic was the Hammers’ top scorer in his 2018/19 season as he racked up 11 goals by averaging a goal every 184 minutes across the 30 appearances he made (Source: BBC Sport). It’s also worth noting that 66% of Arnautovic’s shots hit the target, which is higher than every one of his Hammers teammates bar Mark Noble, Manuel Lanzini and Ryan Fredricks. Though it’s worth noting that the Hammers trio only had a total of 22 shots at goal between them, whereas Arnautovic had 50 attempts at goal. So when you take that into account, if there’s any chance Arnautovic’s attitude can be sorted, the Hammers have to at least try.
