West Ham transfer news: Marko Arnautovic China bid nothing more than ‘rumours’ says Manuel Pellegrini

Manuel Pellegrini has dismissed reports surrounding Marko Arnautovic’s future at West Ham as nothing more than speculation.

Arnautovic, who is contracted until 2022, was reportedly the subject of a £35m bid from an unnamed club in China, but West Ham are determined to keep hold of their talisman.

Pellegrini spent heavily in summer on high-profile players as West Ham continue to chase high ambitions and they will not want to be seen as a club that sells its best players by letting Arnautovic go.

Arnautovic has been the subject of frequent transfer speculation since his move to east London from Stoke, but the latest rumours, a bid from China, are just that says Pellegrini.

“Those are all rumours. We know that we have a very good player in Marko, a lot of clubs may want him to play for them,” he said. “At the moment we have no news about him.”

West Ham host Arsenal in the Premier League on Saturday and Pellegrini believes his star player is in the right frame of mind to perform at his best against Unai Emery’s side and did not want to discuss the issue at great length.

“I think Marko and all the other players involved in rumours have their heads here and want to continue playing the way they are doing so far. He will have his head in the right place for the game against Arsenal,” Pellegrini said in his pre-match press conference.

"I don't want to talk about things that might happen. Marko in this moment is a player of our team, players of his quality and other players like Declan Rice, Felipe Anderson, other clubs will want them but that is one thing. I don't think they will go."

Arnautovivc has made his desire to compete at the top level clear as the 29-year-old enjoys the peak of his playing career, once saying he wants to “compete with the best players”.

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His agent, and brother, Danijel Arnautovic, said in November that Marko is ready for the next step and that playing for West Ham “cannot be the end”.

“He’s already playing in the Premier League and that’s where the best players are. But for a player like Marko this cannot be the end,” said Danijel Arnautovic.

“He’s a big part of West Ham’s team but I think it’s possible to tease out more of him. For that to happen, he has to play for a top team. Marko is ready for the next step. A player like him should not play against relegation. He should play for the international spots.

“Marko is really enjoying playing for West Ham. He loves that club and the fans. But there is still that feeling, that this cannot be the end. And everybody should understand that.”

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Asked if Arnautovic could leave West Ham in January, his brother Danijel replied: “That’s possible. It was already very, very close this last summer.”

Danijel negotiated Marko’s £25m move from Stoke to West Ham and the forward said “I totally trust my brother” when it comes to his future.

With Javier Hernandez a transfer target for Valencia, who have just terminated Michy Batshuayi’s loan deal, and Andy Carroll fighting to renew his contract that expires at the end of the season, West Ham will be reluctant to let another forward leave.

West Ham will be also be aware of the backlash that can be caused by selling a player such was the reaction to the departure of Dimitri Payet and will be wary of Arnautovic’s personal intentions.

Pellegrini’s side were beaten by Arsenal 3-1 at the Emirates in August after defeats against Bournemouth and Liverpool and Pellegrini believes a lot has changes since that early season match.

“We have had four months more working. It was not a bad game last time against Arsenal, we had lots of chances to score but we lost the game with an own goal but after that work hard and the team has improved in every sense.

“When you play with 60,000 people behind you, you are a big club. As a team we need to work better than we did in the first half of the season and the way to see that is against these big teams.”