So Marko Arnautovic has completed his move to Shanghai SIPG. As Elvis Costello once sang, I Hope You're Happy Now. You do wonder how Arnautovic wants to be remembered as a footballer. He's left both Stoke and West Ham in bitter circumstances. With a bit of class from him and his brother he could have had a very different legacy. He's not going to be remembered for a spell in China's PL retirement home, however lucrative. And £120k a week wasn't exactly breadline wages in Britain either.
What's sad is that when motivated he's a cracking player. Marko had a great 2018, first under Moyes and then under Pellegrini. There was that winner against Chelsea, a thunderous goal at the Emirates in a 1-4 defeat, a shot straight through Jordan Pickford, the dismantling of Everton away and the bullying of Man United's Smalling and Jones, a performance that so impressed Jose Mourinho that he wanted to buy him.
But then came the Christmas offer from China and, bar the final three games, he looked hugely distracted through most of 2019, even after signing a new contract. And we could have done without all that "the fans give me energy" guff. Had Arnautovic given his all at West Ham for two or three seasons he could have been a cult — now the fans will remember him as something much less polite.
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