Chinese Super League side Guangzhou Evergrande have pulled out of a £45m deal for West Ham striker Marko Arnautovic, claims The Daily Mail.
Arnautovic has been heavily linked with a lucrative move to China this month and was even left out of West Ham’s squad for their 2-0 defeat to Bournemouth on Saturday.
The Austria international was not deemed in the right frame of mind to feature against the Cherries but has now been served a huge blow in his attempts to cash-in on China’s riches.
West Ham rejected Guangzhou Evergrande’s opening offer of £35m and Fabio Cannavaro’s side were willing to increase their bid to £45m.
Arnautovic would have banked wages in the region of £280,000-a-week but the Chinese Super League outfit pulled the plug on a deal on Saturday evening.
Guangzhou Evergrande finished second in the Chinese Super League last season having won seven league titles in a row prior to that.
Cannavaro’s side already have Brazilian duo Paulinho and Anderson Talisca and it remains to be seen whether West Ham can resurrect talks with the club.
Chinese Super League clubs have until the end of February to sign players but West Ham will draw a line under the matter if Arnautovic is not sold this month as they would not be able to sign a replacement.
Since joining West Ham for a club record fee in the summer of 2017, Arnautovic has scored 23.1% of the club’s Premier League goals (18/78).
