The transfer of Marko Arnautovic to Bologna is almost complete, sources around the club report La Gazzetta dello Sport. The Italian club is in broad outline with Shanghai SIGP on a transfer fee of three million euros. Arnautovic will report in Bologna for his medical examination in the coming days.
Reported a month ago Sky Italy already that the transfer was imminent, but Bologna and Shanghai argued about the terms of the transfer for a long time. The Chinese themselves paid 25 million euros to West Ham United two years ago for the 32-year-old attacker. Initially, Shanghai wanted to see four million euros in return, while Bologna only wanted to pay two million euros. Both sides have now come out in the middle.
According to English media, Arnautovic earned fourteen million euros per season in China. The Austrian was stuck in Shanghai for another year and a half and gives up his mega salary for his desired transfer to Bologna. According to La Gazzetta Arnautovic is compensated for a lower basic salary with a long-term contract.
At Bologna, Arnautovic will team up with Sinisa Mihajlovic, who, like him, has a Serbian background. It is the second time that the experienced attacker will be admired in the Serie A: in the 2009/10 season he was sent to Internazionale by FC Twente on a rental basis. He played there only three times, partly due to his serious injury at the time. That wasn’t enough to trigger his mandatory option to buy. After the season, Arnautovic was sold by Twente to Werder Bremen.
For Sydney van Hooijdonk, the transfer from Arnautovic to Bologna means that he will have a formidable competitor in the striker position. The attacker of NAC Breda left transfer-free to the club from the Serie A, because he was dissatisfied with his playing time in North Brabant.
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