West Ham United opinion: Should the Hammers let go of Arnautovic?

According to a report from the Sun, Italian giants Inter Milan are keen on signing West Ham’s star forward Marko Arnautovic in the summer. The Austrian created a whole saga back in January when he wanted to leave the club for China but the Hammers rejected all offers to tie him down to a new deal.

However, the report reveals that Inter’s new boss Antonio Conte is keen on the 30-year-old forward and sees him as the perfect foil for fellow targets Romelu Lukaku and Edin Dzeko.

Arnautovic is under contract at West Ham until the summer of 2023 but the report says that the Hammers would be tempted to accept an offer of around £30million for him in the summer.

£30million is a decent amount that West Ham can use to strengthen multiple areas of their squad in the transfer window but should the Hammers let go of their star forward?

The Austrian had a miserable time after January as he only managed to get himself involved in 5 goals since the start of February, 4 of which came in the final three games of the season.

The drama surrounding the 30-year-old’s future had a negative impact on the squad on the whole as the Hammers won just six of their last 15 games. This is unacceptable for a player at the top level and the Hammers would certainly be better off without Arnautovic next season.

The Hammers already have two top-class wide men in their ranks in Felipe Anderson and Andriy Yarmolenko, who are both capable of winning games on their own.

Manuel Pellegrini could have a fearsome attack at his disposal next season if he can get a good enough striker to play alongside the duo and this can easily be achieved with the money that they will get from Arnautovic’s sale.

West Ham are linked with Celta Vigo’s Maxi Gomez and West Brom’s Salomon Rondon to fill in the void that would be left by the departures of Lucas Perez, Javier Hernandez, Andy Carroll and potentially Arnautovic as well.

The Hammers will massively benefit from either of the forwards who have both had incredible individual seasons for their respective clubs. Pellegrini should have no second thoughts about cashing in on Arnautovic to fund a move for another player.

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Conclusion

West Ham have a brilliant squad which, with a little tweaking, can achieve great things.

A player like Marko Arnautovic has been a negative influence, especially in the second half of the campaign, which is an unwanted issue for Pellegrini, and he should pounce at the chance of offloading him in the summer.