West Ham transfer news: Marko Arnautovic will not leave in January unless Manuel Pellegrini says he can

Arnautovic’s brother and agent has claimed it is time for the striker to move on but Pellegrini believes the club will not sell their top scorer without his knowledge

West Ham United will not sell wantaway Austrian striker Marko Arnautovic without the express approval of manager Manuel Pellegrini, the Chilean has said.

Arnautovic has been linked with a move to Chinese club Shanghai SIPG, with West Ham reportedly rejecting a £35m bid from the Chinese Super League champions.

The 29-year-old is West Ham's joint top scorer this season with eight goals in all competitions and Pellegrini said that although he had final say on the potential transfer, he had not asked the owners to reject offers for Arnautovic.

"If I say the player must stay, the player will stay," Pellegrini said on Thursday. "I don't have any problem with the club. They are not forcing me to sell Marko Arnautovic.

"In all the months I've been working here I never had any problems with the owners about that."

Pellegrini, who spent two years managing Chinese club Hebei China Fortune, said he understood Arnautovic's desire to move to China due to the high wages on offer.

West Ham, who beat London rivals Arsenal last weekend to climb to ninth in the table, visit Bournemouth in the Premier League on Saturday.

Reuters