‘Not for me’ – Exclusive: McAvennie rubbishes idea of Arnautovic return to West Ham
We’re delighted to welcome former West Ham United striker Frank McAvennie as our exclusive columnist. Each week he’ll be giving his views on the biggest talking points at the London Stadium…
Frank McAvennie is dead against the idea of West Ham re-signing striker Marko Arnautovic from Shanghai SIPG in the January transfer window.
Reliable Irons insider ExWHUemployee has reported this month that David Moyes is keen to re-sign the 31-year-old but David Sullivan and David Gold are not sold on the idea of welcoming the controversial Austrian back to East London.
West Ham sold Arnautovic to Shanghai SIPG for £22.4million last summer after six months of him agitating for a move to China despite signing a new contract and constant friction with his brother and agent Danijel.
Although Arnautovic proved popular among Hammers supporters and was a good striker on his day, McAvennie doesn’t want to see Moyes make a move to re-sign him.
When asked if he’d like to see Arnautovic back at the club, McAvennie told West Ham Zone: “No, not for me.
“He didn’t do it when he was first there and David won’t get him.
“The football in China isn’t good so he’ll be way off the pace and even worse than he was when he played at West Ham.
“Apparently he wasn’t good for the dressing room and if you get somebody like that, you don’t want them back. No matter how good a player they are and he wasn’t that good.
“Fans loved him but he didn’t do it enough and why go to China?”
Move on.
Arnautovic’s final six months at West Ham were disgraceful and we’re shocked that the club and a number of fans would welcome the Austrian back with open arms.
He used the interest from China to get a new contract to make more money, put in no effort on the pitch and then ended up leaving anyway.
Why on earth would we want someone like that back at the club?
McAvennie also makes a good point because Arnautovic has been in China for the last year and a half, scoring 17 times in 35 appearances for Shanghai SIPG.
While his goalscoring stats are decent, there’s no way he’ll be ready to return to the Premier League due to the severe gulf in quality between the two leagues.
In other West Ham news, the Irons have found their new Mr Dependable amid Mark Noble’s struggles.