West Ham have strengthened their attacking threat with the purchase of highly rated winger Marko Arnautovic, from Premier League rivals Stoke. The Potters reportedly received £24 million for the transfer, which will make it a club-record for the Hammers.
Marko Arnautovic is entering his fifth consecutive season in the Premier League and in that time he has claimed an impressive 22 goals and 30 assists. The Austrian also has 62 international caps to his name, scoring 15 for his country in the process.
“It feels special to me to be a West Ham player,” said Arnautovic, on his move to the Hammers. Joint-chairman David Sullivan added “Marko will bring plenty of quality to our front line and I’m excited to see him in a claret and blue shirt.”
Fantasy Football Potential
Arnautovic is priced at 7.0m on FPL which in my opinion is probably 0.5m too much, as you can get the likes of Willian, Wijnaldum and Zaha for the same. There is no doubt that Arnautovic won’t get enough game time as he is better than the likes of Ayew and Snodgrass.
Also, the Austrian may link up well with Mexican Javier Hernandez, which could lead to a significant amount of points for Arnautovic. However he does have a slight discipline issue, as he racked up 9 yellows and 1 red in the Premier League last season.
There’s a chance Arnautovic may be on penalty duty, due to the fact that he took them at Stoke, but Noble seems to be doing a satisfactory job in that department at the moment. Overall, I wouldn’t risk selecting Arnautovic over the likes of the above mentioned because he hasn’t yet took the Premier League by the scruff of the neck and scored or assisted a sufficient amount in a single season, but could this move to West Ham spark a breakthrough season?
West Ham’s opening fixtures are as follows: Manchester United (A), Southampton (A), Newcastle (A), Huddersfield (H) and West Brom (A). Four away games for West Ham in their first five may put you off but last season they drew with United away and beat Southampton. Then they face off with two recently promoted sides which could lead for a good points return for Arnautovic.
If you have enjoyed this view of the fantasy potential of those moving teams this transfer window, be sure to check the others here.
Written by Harry Clark (@HarryClark67)
