West Ham forward Marko Arnautovic has completed his £22.4m move to Shanghai SIPG.
The unsettled star handed in a transfer request at the London Stadium amid interest from the Chinese Super League, having previously failed to engineer a move away from the club in the January transfer window.
After seeing a January move to China collapse, Arnautovic signed a new contract at West Ham which improved his wages to a reported £130,000-a-week.
However, just six months later, the Austria international once again informed the club of his desire to leave, with the Hammers today confirming that he has departed.
“West Ham United can confirm that Marko Arnautovic has joined Chinese Super League champions Shanghai SIPG for an undisclosed fee,” a statement on whufc.com reads.
“The 30-year-old Austrian departs after two seasons at London Stadium, during which he scored 22 goals in 65 appearances in Claret and Blue.”
While the transfer fee is officially undisclosed, Sky Sports are reporting that they have agreed a deal worth just £22.4m, a fraction of the value being offered back in January.
Despite initially demanding a fee of around £40m, West Ham decided it would be best to part with the 30-year-old as soon as possible, in a bid to avoid a potentially disruptive long-running transfer saga.
Manuel Pellegrini’s side will now turn their attentions to finding a replacement for the former Stoke City forward, with the club having been strongly linked with moves for Celta Vigo’s Maxi Gomez and West Brom’s Salomon Rondon, although the latter is also being linked with a move to China, where he could link up with Rafael Benitez once again at Dalian Yifang.
