As of Sunday afternoon, Twitter feeds and breaking news headlines have read something along the lines of West Ham finally getting rid of Marko Arnautovic as a deal is all but secured between the Hammers and Shanghai SIPG.
To use the words “finally get rid of”, seem a much better phrase than transferred off or sold away. Since the winter transfer window last season, the relationship between West Ham and Marko Arnautovic has been a bit like Dorothy and friends against the wicked witch of the west. I’ll let you figure out who was who.
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To go along with the same analogy, Marko wasn’t always hated by the fans. When he was on, he was loved but more often than not, you would find that he wasn’t on. Before the initial transfer saga, he was on it, scoring 7 times and assisting 3. And after a long spring lull, he ends the season with 3 goals in 2 matches getting our hopes up again.
Contrary to popular belief, Marko’s biggest problem wasn’t his brother, it was himself. Yes, his brother might’ve been the one making the absurdly funny remarks, but Marko never once stopped him or shut it down. On the pitch, he never played with enough heart and off it? He was only wrapped up in the world of Marko and wanted nothing to do with the West Ham way of things.
The best part of all this is that even though West Ham didn’t get the money they wanted for him, they wanted him out so that the plague he inflicted on the locker room last season wouldn’t happen again. Collectively it seemed that not only the fans but the players and staff wanted him gone which can only be a good step in the right direction.
With an already depleted forward room, this might have risen questions by some as the door is wide open now. It will certainly give Chicharito the spotlight, but also give Pellegrini and Co the opportunity to find players that want to play for the Hammers.
Oh is am sure that you may have cringed at the title of this article, but all West Ham fans should breathe a collective sigh of relief and dance and sing not that Marko Arnautovic is going on to the far east and away from East London.