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Striker Marko Arnautuvic looks set to stay at West Ham after his big money move to China fell through.
Arnautuvic was the subject of a substantial bid from an undisclosed Chinese club, thought to be Shanghai SIPG, and offered the chance to double his wages, agitated for a move away, publicly waving farewell to the fans at the London Stadium when he was withdrawn from West Ham’s last home game against Arsenal.
However, according to The Daily Telegraph the offer from China has been withdrawn, which means Arnautuvic will be staying in East London, at least for the time being.
That is both good news and bad news for West Ham boss Manual Pellegrini. Good news in that he now has available to him the club’s leading goal scorer and a man he did not want to have to sell in the first place. Bad news, however, because he now he the problem of trying to reintegrate the Austrian international into a team that he made very clear that he did not want to be part of any more.
Andy is an exiled English football fan living in Cyprus. He loves all sports but football is his abiding passion, and he still has dreams every now and then about scoring the winning goal in a Wembley Cup Final, even though his playing days are long gone. He follows most major leagues, across Europe at least, and has a favoured team in each. When he’s not watching, listening, reading or downloading podcasts about football, he spend his time worrying about his beloved Arsenal.