Marko Arnautovic has signed a four-year contract at Stoke City.
The 24-year-old was once considered to be one of the most promising talents in Europe, and this prompted Jose Mourinho to take him to Internazionale on loan in the summer of 2009. However, he only made three league appearances for the Italian giants, and their Portuguese coach later described him as “a fantastic person but with the attitude of a child.”
Arnautovic, who had scored 12 goals in 44 outings for Twente, then moved to Germany with Werder Bremen, for whom he scored 14 goals in 72 Bundesliga matches. He has now left the Weserstadion for the Britannia Stadium, after Stoke agreed to pay a fee of around £2million for his signature and the Austrian penned a deal to keep him at the club until 2017.
Another late addition to Mark Hughes’ squad is Dutch right fullback Kevin Gomez. The 19-year-old spent pre-season training with the Premier League side, and has now finalised a two-year deal having left Feyenoord. Other signings for the Potters are Erik Pieters, Marc Muniesa, and Oussama Assaidi, whilst New England Revolution forward Juan Agudelo is a deadline day target.
A 1-0 win at West Ham United ensured Stoke enter the first international break of the season in good spirits. Hughes’ side are currently fifth in the Premier League standings, having collected six points from their opening three matches.
