Despite the amount of talent West Ham United have produced over the years, they only have one departure over the £30m mark, that, of course, being their record sale, Declan Rice who joined Arsenal last summer.
Some big names that come after Rice are Dimitri Payet, Carlos Tevez, and Rio Ferdinand, who were all sold between £21.7m and £24.5m.
Declan Rice
£97.5m
Dimitri Payet
£24.5m
Carlos Tevez
£24.2m
Rio Ferdinand
£21.7m
Gianluca Scamacca
£21.4m
Marko Arnautovic
£20.9m
Andre Ayew
£19m
Sebastian Haller
£18.8m
Javier Mascherano
£18.8m
Flynn Downes
£14.9m
One of their top ten sales has even been compared to the great Cristiano Ronaldo…
Cristiano Ronaldo's career in numbers
Ronaldo has played 1022 competitive games in his career (not including international appearances), spread out across the likes of Sporting CP, Manchester United, Real Madrid, Juventus, and Al-Nassr FC.
438 of these games were for Real Madrid where he became a true icon of the game, scoring 450 goals, providing 131 assists, and totalling a mammoth 37,835 minutes played.
346 of his career games were for Manchester United, split across two spells at the club, scoring 145 goals and providing 64 assists while he made 134 appearances for Juventus, scoring 101 times and supplying 22 assists.
The 39-year-old’s other appearances have come for Sporting as a youngster where he featured on 31 occasions, scoring five goals, and providing six assists, and now, his current club, Al-Nassr, where he has has scored 66 goals out in Saudi Arabia.
So, who was West Ham’s very own Ronaldo, and what went wrong?
West Ham's very own Cristiano Ronaldo
West Ham’s sixth-highest sale of all time (£20.9m), made 65 appearances for the club, scoring 22 goals, and providing 12 assists. During this time, Austrian Marko Arnautovic was converted from a wide player to more of a number nine.
It was at this time (2017) that Gary Neville compared him to the legendary Portuguese figure Ronaldo, although not in a good way, slating his terrible work rate on the field of play.
“I have only ever played with one player that had an excuse not to track back and that was Cristiano Ronaldo. He scored 40 goals in a season. Arnautovic is Ronaldo in his own mind. That’s the problem, he thinks he is better than he is.”
It was hardly a surprise, therefore, when the Irons decided to let him leave, swallowing up £22.4m for the ‘disruptive’ talent who moved to China.
First Impressions
What did pundits and fans alike think about their new star signing when they arrived? Football FanCast's 'First Impressions' series has everything you need.
Arnautovic is now playing for Inter Milan, having played a role in their Serie A triumph last season, scoring five goals and providing three assists in 27 Serie A appearances. He also got two goals in the Champions League, in just 192 minutes played.
Comparing the two players when Neville made this comment, it remarkably turns out that Arnautovic was more clinical at the time with his goals per shot, having a ratio of 0.14 per 90, compared to the 0.13 of Ronaldo.
Goals
0.40
1.09
Assists
0.29
0.18
xG
0.33
1.04
Progressive Carries
2.96
4.74
Progressive Passes
2.02
3.41
Shots Total
2.81
6.66
Shots on Target
1.24
2.68
Goals/Shot
0.14
0.13
Key Passes
1.36
1.38
Shot-Creating Actions
3.11
3.85
Aerials Won
0.86
1.46
Now, of course, this has a lot to do with the 6.66 shots per 90 Ronaldo was taking, as he is an extremely high-volume shooter, but maybe Neville’s comparison wasn’t too far adrift, and not just from a work-rate point of either.
Both players are on the tall side, Arnautovic standing at 6 foot 3, whilst Ronaldo stands at 6 foot 2, but has one of the biggest leaps in football.
This allows them to dominate the box, make clever movements to provide options from crosses, and provide the finishing touch for their side.
Now, of course, this comparison wasn’t meant to be taken seriously, as Neville used it as criticism, but it does have to be said, in his few years at the club, although an arrogant figure, Arnautovic did offer the Hammers a significant goal threat, and they could do with a striker of that sort right about now.
Lopetegui could already have his own Jhon Duran in West Ham machine
West Ham could already have their own Jhon Duran at the club.
1 ByAngus Sinclair Oct 16, 2024
