In a rather surprising twist on the transfer market, Manchester United have reportedly turned their attention to former West Ham striker Marko Arnautovic, currently at Bologna.
He would be a low cost stop gap option for the Red Devils, who do need help up front, but the first offer has been rejected.
We’ve already covered that part of the story, but Corriere dello Sport bring a few more details on Monday, explaining that Sinisa Mihajlovic, Bologna’s manager, has ‘convinced’ his striker to stay.
It’s said Arnautovic sat down with his boss, who asked him to stay ‘despite the sound of the English sirens’.
The player, ‘who considers Miha as an older brother, is ready to listen to him’, leading to ‘a sort of pact between the manager and the player’.
There’s no denying that Manchester United’s offer ‘enticed the striker, and not just a little’, as his brother and agent ‘came to the office with the offer of the Red Devils: just over €5m for the fee to be paid to Casteldebole and a contract worth around €3m post tax’ for the player.
However, Bologna ‘makes a wall’, rejecting the offer, as they don’t plan on selling any more of their stars.
As for the player, he seems ready to stay for the time being, but that doesn’t mean there is still a bit of nervousness around the Serie A side, because they know that Erik ten Hag, Manchester United’s new manager, ‘will be pushing to try to get Marko signed’.
The two already worked together between 2006 and 2009 when the Dutchman was assistant manager at Twente, before Arnautovic headed to Inter for a season long loan.
The idea that Ten Hag will continue to push for his signing is backed up by Gianluca Di Marzio, who took to his website to reveal Manchester United will increase their offer (he claims the initial bid was €8-9m compared to Corriere’s €5m) ‘in the coming days’.
