West Ham United named their price for the sale of Marko Arnautovic as they aim to fund the purchase of Bournemouth and England striker Callum Wilson claims the Daily Mirror.
The Austria international made what appeared to be his final appearance at the London Stadium during the weekend’s 1 – 0 win over Arsenal. Hammers team-mate Mikhail Antonio confirmed afterward that the striker was expected to leave West Ham this month.
Shanghai SiPG, Chinese Super League club, bid £35m last week but in a shift of position, the Hammers named their price of £50m. An initial adamant rebuttal was met with an equally assertive claim by the striker that he wanted to leave the club. It’s led to the club’s board accepting he wants to leave and identifying his replacement.
A significant boost in that chase was received when reports out of Italy declared Gonzalo Higuain, 31, had handed in a transfer request to force through a move to Chelsea. A long-time target for the Blues, the change in his situation distracted them from their pursuit of 26-year-old Wilson.
The media quoted a price of £85m for the recently capped England international but the West Ham hierarchy will aim for a significant reduction on that if they can persuade the Cherries to sell.
