More transfer progress. The Irons have signed Marko Arnautovic from Stoke City for £24 million. That's a lot of money, but in this inflated market, when Swansea's Sigurdsson, a great player but not a genius, is valued at £50 million, it's what you need to pay.
Looking at the Oatcake fanzine online, most Stoke fans seem gutted to see him go and are complaining about Stoke's lack of ambition, which is encouraging for us, though one fan does warn that, "he's only up for it three out of ten games." My cousin Dave, a Potters fan, messages: "With Arnie you have a match winner, just never sure if he is going to turn up." He also points out that Arnie's agent is his brother Daniel, so the family will have done quite well out of this move.
Arnie seems to have all the ability but not the consistency — though if Bilic can coach him into performing well regularly he should certainly add something to the side on the left. With Hart, Zabaleta and Arnautovic signed I'm starting to feel more optimistic about next season.
8 comments:
A lot of Stoke fans will be gutted at Arnie going because he can be a match winner and has occasional flashes of brilliance. West Ham fans will soon get to see that 2 games in 3 he doesn't turn up and sulks if things don't go his way. Is he worth £24 million? In todays crazy market maybe, but the Hammers could soon be thinking 'we was fackin mugged'.
He's clearly got the ability but as you say, he has to do it consistently. At 28 it's his let big chance in PL...
I think on balance it's a good deal for both parties. 24 mil is top end for him and Stoke fans are itching to see Ramadan start more games. If Arnie can be more consistent he is top quality...But I can't help thinking that West Ham and Stoke will be fighting out for upper midtable and if West Ham can't do better than that he'll just want to do one elsewhere.
I'm a sensible Stoke fan (not a happy clapper) Arnie will do well for 6 months while He's happy then disappear for the remainder of his contract, until he can take a final pay day. If West Ham had real ambition they would have offered the same money for Sobhi, I guarantee that Stoke wouldn't have sold him for 25M, Stoke have done really well out of this deal, I would have snapped your hand off at 15M
Will be very disappointed if he doesn't go now. We need him out the door so that Sobhi can play. He is a disruptive influence on the team. He wanted out last year and thought after the Euros his price would go up. However he had a crap tournament for Austria and nobody came in for him. Surprise, surprise he suddenly changed his mind and 'really wanted' to stay at Stoke all along! One season later same old story!
Interesting to hear views from Stoke fans. Arnie clearly comes with some issues. Think Brendan is right in that top six likely to remain the same and the rest of us fighting for upper mid-table. Arnautovic would need to impress for a season or so to get another move so hopefully WHU will get a good start out of him. Our fans demand 100 per cent effort though they do have a soft spot for inconsistent talented mavericks too...
I think you will get a good start out of him Peter but after that it's total frustration until he moves. He's a player than can be as good as anyone on the planet but just cant be arsed. I think Irons fans will be on his back before the end of the season
thank for good topic and great....
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