David Sullivan tried to bring West Ham hate figure back to London Stadium on deadline day. West Ham United co-owner David Sullivan allegedly tried to make a highly controversial move on deadline day.
David Sullivan has been a busy man at West Ham over the past few weeks. The Hammers co-owner sacked Julen Lopetegui and replaced him with Graham Potter early on in the January transfer window. The winter window only yielded one signing in the end – the arrival of Evan Ferguson from Brighton.
In fairness, James Ward-Prowse was recalled from his loan spell with Nottingham Forest on deadline day as well.
The general consensus is that we needed to make one or two more signings in order to give Potter the best chance at achieving his targets during the final third of the campaign. And it seems like Potter could have brought in more reinforcements up front if he so wished.
However, the man he could have signed is in the twilight of his career AND…he’s not the most popular figure in East London. The Hammers owner is well known for the way that he offers numerous different strikers to his managers.
The names have been passed to him by agents, but more often than not, they’re has-beens who’ve already had their best days in the sun.
And the latest name to be linked with a move to the London Stadium certainly fits right into that category.
According to Sky Sports Italia, West Ham made a shock move to bring Marko Arnautovic back to the London Stadium on transfer deadline day. Wow, that transfer really would have ruffled some feathers wouldn’t it.
He stayed with Inter in the end, and the Hammers brought Ferguson to the London Stadium. I would like to think that Potter outright rejected the opportunity to sign Arnautovic when he was offered to him by Sullivan.
Marko Arnatovic’s checkered history with West Ham
Arnautovic was a great player for the Hammers, up until his highly controversial exit from the London Stadium in 2019. The agent and brother of Arnautovic, Danijel, stunned the Hammers fans back in January 2019 when he explained why his client wanted to leave the club.
He then left the club just a few months later, joining Chinese club Shanghai SIPG for around £22 million (The Guardian).
The striker earned an incredible £200k-a-week in China (Daily Mirror), but he returned to Europe not long after that move, and he played for Bologna before joining his current team – Inter Milan.
Despite the way that he behaved leading up to his exit, it’s hard not to admit just how good he was for us. The Austrian bagged 22 goals and 12 assists in 65 games for West Ham, and the way that he led the line on his own was truly incredible to watch.
West Ham could really do with a player like Marko Arnautovic in his prime right now, but I’m not convinced that signing him on deadline day would have been a good move.
With Graham Potter and Kyle Macaulay running the transfer recruitment show now, I expect the Hammers to target young and talented players with higher ceilings. Who knows, maybe Evan Ferguson will become our new Marko Aarnautovic.
