Stoke demand £22.5m to sell Arnautovic to Premier League rival

West Ham will have to return with a third bid in the region of £22.5m if they are to forced Stoke’s hand into selling star man Marko Arnautovic according to the Mail on Sunday.

Slaven Bilic is desperate to bolster his attacking options on the left flank following the January sale of Dimitri Payet and has earmarked the Austrian international as his top target for that position.

The Hammers have already reportedly had bids of £15m and £20m rejected for the 28-year-old’s services but seem likely to return with a third and final offer in order to get their man.

Any move would leave Stoke short of attacking options themselves in the final third following the sale of Jonathan Walters to Burnley, with Arnautovic a key man in attack under Mark Hughes.

Although his form did drop off last season compared to the 2015/16 campaign, in which he scored a career high of 11 league goals, the former Werder Bremen man still had a direct hand in more goals than any Potters teammate last term, with 6 goals and 5 assists.