West Ham United captain Mark Noble is as honest as the day is long but he has contradicted himself over Marko Arnautovic.
Hammers star Arnautovic is agitating for a move to China. His agent and brother Danijel told talkSPORT that the West Ham talisman has made his mind up and wants to leave.
It comes after Arnautovic was the subject of a £35million bid from a Chinese club – believed to be Shanghai SIPG (Sky Sports).
West Ham have taken a hardline stance and won’t start negotiations at anything less than £50million.
Arnautovic angered fans by being removed from the squad to face Bournemouth last time out as he was ‘not in the right frame of mind’.
‘Would I blame him for that kind of money? No’
Clearly speaking out to try and head off a potential backlash from Hammers fans last week skipper Noble wrote about the Arnautovic saga in his Evening Standard column.
Noble was trying to help fans see the wantaway striker’s point of view. And he inadvertently revealed the tax free salary Arnautovic has been offered in China, a whopping £400,000 per week.
“Would I blame him if he goes? No, although I would much rather he stayed,” Noble wrote in the Evening Standard in which he described Arnautovic as a close friend.
“In the end he has to do the best for himself and his family in a relatively short career.”
One rule for one…
Fast forward less than a week and Noble seemed to completely contradict himself. And it came when discussing the future of young player Grady Diangana.
Diangana put pen to paper on a new contract until summer 2025 last week.
And speaking to the club’s official website Noble said Diangana now owes it to West Ham to work hard and dedicate himself to the Hammers after they ‘set him up for life’.
“I think it’s right that the club has signed him up because, as I’ve said from day one, you have to keep hold of your best young players,” Noble told whufc.com.
“Grady has come on leaps and bounds since he got into the team so, now he is set up for life off the pitch, he needs to knuckle down and work even harder.”
So it seems it is one rule for one and one rule for another in Noble’s mind.
As captain Noble’s views carry extra weight. But he has got this one wrong.
Same should be expected of all players
Arnautovic may have been meeting his obligations in terms of attending training.
But Pellegrini confirmed last week his performance and mindset in training was not to the required standard.
Yet a homegrown star in Diangana, who is probably earning no more than £15,000 per week, is effectively told to knuckle down and prove he is worth it?
That just doesn’t sit right. How about Arnautovic proves he is worth the £100,000 per week West Ham are paying him.
Not just by turning up to training on time.
But by showing some professionalism and giving everything ON the pitch until such a time that he does leave.
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