In recent days, the domestic soccer world has been blown away by a transfer news. According to well-known Italian journalist Romano, Shanghai Harbour's winger Arnautovic has finalized his contract with Serie A side Bologna and both sides are expected to complete the signing soon. However, before signing the contract, Arnautovic needs to negotiate with Shanghai Harbor on the termination of his contract, as Bologna does not intend to pay the transfer fee!
Romano further revealed that Arnautovic has requested the release of his contract from Shanghai Seaport and he is about to leave the Chinese Super League as a free agent. His next home has also been clarified, with Serie A side Bologna set to offer Arnaud a three-year contract.
Back in the summer of 2019, in order to fill the void left by Wu Lei's departure, Shanghai Harbour brought in Austrian international Arnautovic from English Premier League side West Ham for a transfer fee of €25 million. In his two years with the team, he played 39 games for Shanghai Harbour, scoring 20 goals and recording four assists. Due to the impact of the epidemic, all the Chinese Super League matches in the past two seasons have been held behind closed doors, and many foreign aiders, unable to tolerate the long-term separation from their families, have had the idea of leaving the team. Arnautovic is one of them.
After the Europa League match between Austria and Italy, Arnautovic confessed in an interview with Italian media Sky Sports that Italy may be the next stop of his career, but he also said that he still has a contract with Shanghai Harbor, so he is still a Shanghai Harbor player. Not long ago, Shanghai Harbour team reporter Liu Wenchao personally came out to dispel the rumors. He responded to the Italian media's speculation that Arnautovic had joined Bologna on a free-agent basis with just four words, "There's no such thing!"
Five Star Sports also inquired to the internal staff of Shanghai Seaport not long ago, and the club said that Arnautovic is still a player of Seaport, and as to whether he will return in the future or not, there is no definite conclusion yet, and everything still needs to be subject to the official announcement.
SIPG fans have not shown much opposition to the rumored transfer of Arnautovic. The general consensus is that players can leave the team, but they must pay the transfer fee, so that clubs in other countries do not get into the habit of "whoring" Chinese Super League foreign aid. How this transfer soap opera will develop, let us wait and see.
