Some West Ham United fans react as Mark Noble shares sadness at Marko Arnautovic 2019 exit amid potential summer return

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Some West Ham United fans have been reacting on social media after Hammers captain Mark Noble shared his sadness at Marko Arnautovic’s exit in 2019, while on That Peter Crouch Podcast.

The Irons reluctantly agreed to sell Arnautovic to Chinese Super League side Shanghai SIPG for €25million (£22.4m) after Manuel Pellegrini told the board to let the striker leave (Guardian).

Arnautovic had been angling for a move away from the London Stadium and informed the club of his desires to go to China, despite signing a contract extension six months earlier that saw his wage increase to £120,000-per-week (Sky Sports).

Arnautovic’s brother, Danijel, also told Sky Sports that the Austrian was “simply being used by West Ham” who considered the striker to be “just a number”, having been denied a move to China during that year’s January transfer window.

West Ham accepted Shanghai’s offer despite considering it to be a terrible deal (Sky Sports) as everyone ‘wants him out’, while former Irons defender Pablo Zabaleta said via quotes by The Guardian that Arnautovic created a “bad atmosphere” in the dressing room that January.

Noble has now moved to allay suggestions that Arnautovic was a bad influence in the dressing room, after Crouch shared his experience of working with the forward at Stoke.

“People think he’s a bad egg but he’s actually the exact opposite. He brought people together in our dressing room and everyone loved him,” Crouch said, before Noble added:

“Same as ours. Everyone was worried about him when he came because of that perception. But what a funny, funny man though. What a player when he turned it on, some days in training, you couldn’t get close to the fella, he was so quick and powerful. I was really sad to see him go.”

Arnautovic is now being lined up for a potential return to the London Stadium, where he scored 22 goals in 65 games, with Tutto Bologna Web touting West Ham as potential competition for Crystal Palace and Bologna should he leave Shanghai SIPG for free.

Here’s how these West Ham fans reacted on social media to Noble revealing what it was like to play with Arnautovic, and his sadness at the Austrian leaving…