Thursday, January 10

Chinese whispers about Arnie

Bad news that an unnamed Chinese team has made a £35 million bid for Marko Arnautovic. West Ham are not under any pressure to sell and although every player has his price, we really need to keep hold of Arnie and make a strong bid for the FA Cup or Europa League. You can't see that football-wise he'd be interested in leaving the Premier League for China, although he is 30 in April and his agent/brother might be tempted by the cash on offer. More disturbing rumours come in the Sun, claiming that Man City see Declan Rice as the long-term successor to Fernandinho, who is 33. At least we now have Declan on a long-term contract. The board needs to show its ambition. if West Ham are to reach 'the next level' the Irons need to hang on to top players like Arnautovic and Rice. 

2 comments:

matt said...

My thoughts exactly. We've just said: "Marko has a contract and we fully expect him to honour it. He is not for sale." So let's see what happens now. Be interesting to see Arnie's attitude on Saturday - and how the crowd reacts to him. In Permanent Injury Crisis news, Balbuena is out for another 2 months after an op, on the injury he suffered conceding a penalty. With Reid out for the season it leaves us very short at centre back.

Pete May said...

Bad news on Balbuena. Might have to make a loan signing or drop Rice into the back four if we get any more injuries...