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Marko Arnautovic: West Ham sign Stoke City and Austria forward for £20m

Last updated on .From the section Footballcomments172

Marko Arnautovic
Marko Arnautovic made 145 appearances for Stoke in all competitions, scoring 26 times

West Ham have signed Stoke City and Austria forward Marko Arnautovic for a club record £20m, which could rise to £25m, on a five-year-deal.

The 28-year-old joined Stoke from Werder Bremen four years ago and was just 12 months into a four-year contract with the Potters.

He scored seven times in 35 games in all competitions last season.

"Everyone knows that West Ham is a big club and I'm happy to be a part of it. I can't wait to get started," he said.external-link

"It feels special to me to be a West Ham player. They are crazy for football and this is what I like. The club is still growing, getting better and better and that's why I'm here."

Arnautovic becomes West Ham's third signing of the summer, following deals for England goalkeeper Joe Hart and Argentina full-back Pablo Zabaleta.

The Hammers, who confirmed that Arnautovic is their club record signing, previously broke their record last summer when they signed Andre Ayew from Swansea for £20.5m.

Find all the latest football transfers on our dedicated page.

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172 comments

  • Comment posted by Randy Marsh, at 18:41 18 Jul 2017

    Good player on his day, not sure he can do it on a cold wet windy day in Stoke...

  • Comment posted by Vox Populi, at 19:20 18 Jul 2017

    Sevilla signed Nolito, a Spanish international, for £9.3m from Manchester City 2 days ago. Nolito scored 6 goals last season. Marko Arnautovic played more often than Nolito last season. He scored 7 goals. He moves to another Premier League club for £24m.

    Someone please explain the PL transfer market to me because it's just ridiculous in terms of average players moving for vastly inflated sums.

  • Comment posted by Daz Pants, at 18:48 18 Jul 2017

    A striker who scored 7 goals in 35 games.

    A striker who scores a goal every 5 games.

    £24 million.

    I know it's been said a lot this summer, but this really is the transfer which shows the Premier League has gone absolutely crazy.

    (This would make Sanchez worth how much?!)

  • Comment posted by Sam Scrivener, at 18:58 18 Jul 2017

    24 Million? Too much.

  • Comment posted by Go Cro, at 19:22 18 Jul 2017

    Well done Stoke!

  • Comment posted by K A G S, at 19:01 18 Jul 2017

    On last seasons goal tally:

    Lukaku £3m per goal

    Arnautovic £3.42m per goal

    Looks like West Ham have been mugged off!

  • Comment posted by NilSatisNisi, at 18:52 18 Jul 2017

    "Great signing - with hart and marko joining west ham should be a top 6 (possibly even top 4 team) next year."

    Aaaahahahaha!!!

    Please tell me that was a joke. Otherwise its a solid "no" to top6, and a "don't be ridiculous" to top4.

    Hilarious.

  • Comment posted by User0869254662, at 18:46 18 Jul 2017

    David thinking Joe Hart and Marko make them a top 6 side 😂😂😂, West Ham will have had a good season if they come 8th😂

  • Comment posted by Folk in yell, at 19:45 18 Jul 2017

    The game is gone. £24m for a bang average mid table prem player.
    Premier League has ruined English football.

  • Comment posted by judorick, at 20:28 18 Jul 2017

    desperation signing for West Ham, can't find the players they really want for any money...

    and have to pay over the odds for players they don't really want

    while Chelsea and the rest stock pile players and send them out on loan all over Europe

    unfair competition is no fun, BPL footy increasingly a yawn fest

  • Comment posted by User0136233578, at 18:40 18 Jul 2017

    OMG football really has gone crazy!

  • Comment posted by ladypotters72, at 19:57 18 Jul 2017

    Arnie is great when he is on it, but very temperamental! Best of luck to him at West Ham. Good deal for Stoke 💷💪

  • Comment posted by PatMustard, at 21:46 18 Jul 2017

    Good player on his day but outrageous money. Finishing his weak point but great ball control but his head goes down when things go wrong. As a Stoke fan am 50/50 on his sale. A game changer and un-playable at times but most of the time needs a boot up the backside.

  • Comment posted by Jkae, at 19:03 18 Jul 2017

    If he can sort out his consistency he'll be great. As it stands though, £24 million for a streaky player who can go missing for weeks doesn't seem too clever

  • Comment posted by Harry, at 19:01 18 Jul 2017

    Not a good bit of business in my opinion. Lazy player who doesn't track back and not an out-and-out striker. West Ham already have Antonio, Lanzini, Snodgrass, Feghouli and Ayew to play out wide and Arnautovic is worse than the first two. The club needs a central midfielder and a striker really, not a flair player.

  • Comment posted by Mesh, at 21:21 18 Jul 2017

    92 We all laugh....

    "should've" (as in short for "should have"), not "should of"

  • Comment posted by User0089791746, at 08:10 19 Jul 2017

    I really hope all these clubs have clauses in players contracts to allow contract termination/amendment when the inevitable pay TV crash comes. Otherwise a lot of clubs are going out of buiness at some point in the future.

    a 180K mortgage @ 2% interest = £848/month

    @ 4% = add £207

    @ 6% = add £441

    I see a lot of Sky/BT packages being cancelled as people choose to pay TV or mortgage

  • Comment posted by dean court, at 18:37 18 Jul 2017

    should have the premiership worried !

  • Comment posted by boro73, at 05:12 19 Jul 2017

    Well done Sky. You've officially created the worst league to attract talent at the wrong price. The terrible thing is that sky tv viewers and fans are paying for these inflated fees and 25% cut to some greedy assassin of an agent. 24m the going rate if you consider he was 8m 3 years ago and the sky deal trebled earnings. Does that mean you'd pay 100m for Andy Carroll west ham?

  • Comment posted by Bluntdog72, at 22:20 18 Jul 2017

    West Ham fans you have signed a real showman and crowd pleaser here. Great first touch control, loves flicks, dummies etc. And unlike Bojan & Shaqiri he is is tall, with upper body strength to fend off opponents. Also if he loses the ball, he goes into overdrive trying to get it back. Will pick up silly bookings for visible dissent; frustrated arm-waving and the like. But otherwise; a top player.

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