The Manchester United Pursuit of Bologna Striker, Marko Arnautovic, Has Come to an End

About Marko Arnautoviс

Marko Arnautoviс is an Austrian professional footballer who plays as an attacker for Serie A club Bologna and the Austria national team.

He was born in April 19, 1989. Before signing a deal with Dutch side Twente in 2006, Arnautovic began his career in his native Austria as a member of youth teams for a variety of clubs in and around Vienna. He has already performed in four nations. Three seasons were spent at FC Twente in the Netherlands, where he made his professional debut. After a brief loan spell with Inter Milan, Arnautovic joined German club Werder Bremen in June 2010 and became a first-team regular.

Mark Hughes, the manager of Stoke City, paid £2 million in the summer of 2013 to bring Arnautovic to England. In his third season in the Premier League, Arnautovic is now demonstrating why Hughes wanted him to join the club. In his last seven home matches, Arnautovic has contributed directly to seven goals (three goals and four assists). Arnautovic is also a regular for the Austrian national team, where he has earned 48 caps. Austria finished as group winners to qualify for a major tournament for the first time since 1998, when Austria played in Euro 2008 but automatically qualified as co-hosts. After a successful 2008–09 campaign with De Grolsch Veste, he joined Inter Milan on loan for the 2009–10 season but was limited to three games due to injury. 

In September 2013, Arnautovic joined the English club Stoke City, where he scored 26 goals in 145 matches. He joined West Ham United in July 2017 for £20 million and earned the Hammer of the Year title in his first season. He scored 22 goals in 65 games over two seasons for West Ham before joining Shanghai SIPG (formerly Shanghai Port) for £22.4 million in July of 2019. In August of 2021, Arnautovic returned to Europe to join Bologna.

Since 2008, Arnautovic has contributed to Austria’s qualification for the 2016 and 2020 UEFA European Championships as a full international with over 100 appearances. In 2018, he was awarded Austria’s best footballer. Arnautovic is the Austrian national team’s second-most-capped player and third-highest scorer in history.

Manchester United Pursuit And The Result

Due to the uncertainty surrounding Cristiano Ronaldo’s future at Old Trafford and the lack of options up front following Anthony Martial’s hamstring injury, Arnautovic surfaced as a surprising target for Erik ten Hag. Over the course of the weekend, Arnautovic surfaced as a surprising transfer target for Manchester United. According to reports, United had a deal in the region of £8 million rejected for the 33-year-old player.

United’s Premier League debut on Saturday resulted in a 2-1 loss to Brighton. Ten Hag downplayed rumors that the club would sign the former West Ham United and Stoke City forward. At Old Trafford, Christian Eriksen began the match in a false nine position, while Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho played in wide areas.

Anthony Martial was ruled out with a hamstring injury, and after only 45 minutes of preseason action, Cristiano Ronaldo was deemed unfit to start. From 2013 to 2019, Arnautovic scored 43 goals in 184 Premier League games.

According to Marco Di Vaio, the club’s sports director, Bologna has reaffirmed their stance that Marko Arnautovic is not available for purchase despite interest from Manchester United. However, just this month, Manchester United  ceased its pursuit of Bologna forward Marko Arnautovic. New Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag was contemplating a move for the 33-year-old Austrian striker, with whom he had worked at FC Twente. It is believed that United withdrew due to a combination of Bologna’s increasing transfer fee demands and the negative response.

Manchester United’s interest in Arnautovic was met with criticism from fans already dissatisfied with the club’s lack of movement on summer transfer market priority goals.

It is believed that fans also contacted senior United officials with worries about Arnautovic’s prior behavior. After scoring against North Macedonia, the Austrian international, who is half-Serbian, was banned for one game at the European Championship last summer for “insulting another player”.