West Ham United are in a state of limbo over their strikers with the uncertainty surrounding Marko Arnautovic.
The Austrian wants to move to China but West Ham refuse to sell their top scorer for less than £50 million.
Reports at the weekend claimed any move was off (Sky Sports) as Arnautovic declared he was ‘not in the right frame of mind’ to play in West Ham’s defeat at Bournemouth.
It leaves Manuel Pellegrini in an awkward position.
He could end up being lumbered with an unhappy player – Arnautovic stood to quadruple his £100,000 per week salary in China, as revealed by Hammers captain Mark Noble.
West Ham left in difficult position
Then there are two more unwelcome scenarios.
The Chinese transfer window does not close until the end of February. So if West Ham may receive an offer too good to refuse they will have no means of replacing Arnautovic until the summer.
And the longer any such deal drags in January they risk losing targets to other clubs.
So a new report from Spain will have Pellegrini worried that could happen with prime striker target Maxi Gomez.
Hammers serious about Gomez… but so are Barca
Well-placed Italian journalist Alfredo Pedulla has claimed on his own website that West Ham have ‘accelerated’ their interest in Uruguayan forward Gomez since their other target Krzysztof Piatek agreed to join AC Milan.
Radio Vigo, part of Cadena Ser confirmed an entourage from the Hammers were in Vigo to discuss a deal for a player Pellegrini wanted to sign in the summer.
Gomez seen as prime Arnautovic AND Suarez replacement
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