Did you know that the man himself is keeping mum, but Chelsea have been named as one of the teams interested in signing former Stoke City player Marko Arnautovic?
“Arnie” had a cameo role as Austria beat Northern Ireland 1-0 in the UEFA Nations League in Belfast on Sunday, but he was saying little post-match about speculation linking him with a move away from West Ham.
However, his brother and agent Danijel Arnautovic has been far more forthcoming in an interview with respected Italian journalist Gianluca Di Marzio.
Marko, who quit the Potters in the summer of 2017 to join the Londoners in a £25m deal, said: “I don’t want to talk about it. I am concentrated on West Ham. We have a big game against Manchester City on Saturday and I am only thinking about this and the following games.
“What is being said (about my future) is not my business. My business is to perform on the pitch, and that is what I want to do.”
But Arnie’s future is the business of brother Danijel, and he is working hard to put his brother in the shop window.
He told Di Marzio: “He is ready for the next step. Many Premier League clubs are following him, like Chelsea and Everton, but they are not the only ones.
“It’s not that he wants to leave (West Ham), but we believe the time has come that Marko takes a step forward in his career, maybe try to win a trophy, maybe the Champions League. The stats are on his side.”
Last week, Danijel Arnautovic revived speculation that Manchester United were still interested in the 29-year old after West Ham rejected their advances in the summer.
The Hammers reiterated last week that their man is not for sale, and it is easy to see why. Since joining the Londoners, he has been been directly involved in 23 of their 62 Premier League goals, scoring 16 himself and assisting in a further seven.
Arnautovic had a brief loan spell with Inter Milan in 2009 when Jose Mourinho was manager at the San Siro. Asked by Di Marzio about a possible return to Italy, Danijel Arnautovic replied: “Why not? Returning to Italy would be a good chance to prove he wasn’t a bad signing. He was only 19 when he joined Inter and he made friends there. He has a very good memory of Milan.”
Arnautovic was one of the first signings of the Mark Hughes era at Stoke City, joining the Potters from German club Werder Bremen for £2m in the summer of 2013.
He quickly shook off the bad-boy image that had plagued his time in the Bundesliga to become one of Stoke’s most impressive performers.