Reflecting on West Ham’s cold goodbye to Marko Arnautovic

West Ham announced Marko Arnautovic transfer with a cold press release following the latest transfer circus from the Austrian mercenary. While short and unemotional, the Hammers gave the move all the attention it needed with their understated message.

From the Hammers, just 45 words are all that used to follow up on the title message: Marko Arnautovic Departs.

"“West Ham United can confirm that Marko Arnautovic has joined Chinese Super League champions Shanghai SIPG for an undisclosed fee.The 30-year-old Austrian departs after two seasons at London Stadium, during which he scored 22 goals in 65 appearances in Claret and Blue.”"

For reference, Lucas Perez received a 97-word send-off from West Ham, more than doubling Arnautovic’s message. Arnautovic, who had his goal total included in his goodbye message massively eclipses Lucas Perez for club important, but it was Perez who received a notation about his off-the-bench double celebrating his time at the club.

Quite telling as well, was the message “West Ham United would like to thank Lucas for his efforts and wish him the best for his future career” added to Perez’s transfer message. This was noticeably absent from Arnautovic’s.

West Ham have done their best to pump up the social media presence since confirming the departure of Arnautovic. They have sent out images and videos celebrating returning international players and loyal members of the team, none more apparent than this message:

Dripping in subtext, West Ham move the focus from a whiny mercenary getting his way, to a club legend who is ready to put in a second week of pre-season training. The PR move is awesome from the club. A large majority of Hammers supporters love Mark Noble and this only puts more emphasis on the type of loyalty he has shown over the years with this team.

The team also celebrated the return of Declan Rice to training after his extended time off following international duty, have brought Andriy Yarmolenko’s fun-loving attitude in training to the forefront, and are reminding us of Pablo Fornals as he arrives in East London.

Regardless, West Ham have moved on from Arnautovic now and it’s for the better. No amount of goals or fake “I’m back” social media videos could make the headache worth it for West Ham, who should have expected this from the mercenary, but the post-Arnautovic era begins now. The squad has never been deeper and the skipper has his sights set on European football. Onward and upward.