Austria forward Marko Arnautovic is set to play in his third European Championship this summer at the age of 35, and his side could hardly have been given a tougher opening task.
On Monday night, Ralf Rangnick’s men will take on France, a team much fancied by many to go all the way in Germany, in their first Euro 2024 match.
Arnautovic could be left to lead the line against the formidable French as Austria look to spring an upset, and they will need their talisman at his very best.
In 112 international appearances, Arnautovic has netted 36 goals, and his quality on the ball cannot be questioned. But the same can’t be said for some of his behaviour over the years.
Having left his homeland to join FC Twente in the Netherlands as a 17-year-old in 2006, Arnautovic broke into the first team the following year.
Marko Arnautovic (pictured) is set to play at his third European Championship
He has a controversial past and was accused of using the n-word by Ibrahim Kargbo (right) in 2009
The goals did not immediately arrive, but in the 2008-09 season he made his big breakthrough, scoring 12 times in 28 Eredivisie outings.
But it was a campaign marred by controversy for Arnautovic as he was accused of using the n-word by Willem II defender Ibrahim Kargbo during a match in March 2009.
A subsequent Dutch FA investigation found no evidence to support the claim of racism, but Arnautovic was sent out on loan to Inter Milan that summer.
It was here that he met Jose Mourinho. Two huge personalities – what could possibly go wrong?
Quite a lot, apparently. The pair only spent a year together, and it was a historic one for Inter as they won an unprecedented Treble, but Arnautovic saw his game time limited and Mourinho was unimpressed by his attitude.
After Arnautovic struck up a friendship with Mario Balotelli, Mourinho gave an insight into what it was like to coach the two strikers.
‘Marko is a fantastic guy, but he has the attitude of a kid,’ said the Portuguese boss ahead of his first call-up to the matchday squad against Chievo.
‘Mario Balotelli is his best friend and they just happen to have the same traits. It’s not easy.’
Arnautovic was accused of having ‘the attitude of a kid’ by Jose Mourinho while at Inter Milan
Arnautovic was close friends with Mario Balotelli (right) and Mourinho admitted they weren’t easy to manage
Arnautovic was sent back to FC Twente before Werder Bremen came calling and he moved on to Germany in 2010.
Much like at Inter, he immediately started off on the wrong foot, with club captain Torsten Frings offering a damning assessment of his new team-mate.
‘He has his own way of doing things, which is particularly unwelcome at Bremen,’ Frings explained.
‘He argues too much, often says no and must find a balance that does not come across so arrogantly.’
Despite Frings’ concerns, Arnautovic lasted three years at Bremen, but the writing was on the wall when he and Dutch international Eljero Elia were banned by the club for the final month of the 2012-13 season for speeding in separate incidents in the same week.
His time in Germany was up, but Stoke decided to take a gamble on him and brought Arnautovic to the Premier League.
Remarkably, it took Arnautovic until November to win his first league match in 2013, leading to him being branded ‘the worst player in Europe’ by German outlet Bild.
When he finally broke his duck, Arnautovic hit back at his critics, insisting ‘I don’t care what they say’.
Arnautovic was dubbed ‘the worst player in Europe’ during his first season at Stoke
Things improved at West Ham but fans turned against him when he left abruptly for China
Arnautovic admitted he let his standards slip after securing his big-money transfer to China
Scoring goals was an issue for Arnautovic in his first two years at Stoke as he found the net just five times in the league, but he finally hit his stride in 2015-16 with 11 strikes in England’s top flight.
A year later, West Ham made their move to bring him to east London.
It was slightly surprising to see West Ham splash out £24m on a player that had blown hot and cold, but Arnautovic silenced his doubters by reaching double figures for goals in each of his two seasons with the Irons.
He was becoming a fans’ favourite, and then dropped the bombshell in 2019 that he wanted to leave to secure a big-money move to China.
He got his wish, leading to the Hammers posting a blunt 45-word farewell message after fans had turned on Arnautovic.
These should have been the peak years of Arnautovic’s career, but after joining Shanghai SIPG for £23m, he openly admitted he let his standards slip.
Speaking to Beanyman Sports in August 2020 about how he approached his new league, Arnautovic said: ‘I underestimated it. I didn’t train. I didn’t look after my body. I was eating. I was drinking fizzy drinks – Sprite, Coca Cola, Fanta – all these sugar drinks that are not good for the body.
‘Eating at wrong times. Not sleeping, because when I came to China it took me about three weeks until I could adapt to the time. I went to bed at 6, 7 o’clock in the morning. I woke up 3, 4 o’clock in the afternoon, went to training, stayed up again all night, eating at wrong times.’
Arnautovic allegedly shouted ‘I’m f****** your Albanian mother’ at Ezgjan Alioski (right) during the Euro 2020 clash between Austria and North Macedonia
He had to be restrained by team-mate David Alaba, and was later handed a one-match ban
He may not have taken his time in China too seriously, but Arnautovic still did enough to earn a call-up to Austria’s squad for the delayed Euro 2020.
His side made the perfect start to the tournament, beating North Macedonia 3-1 in their opening game, with Arnautovic sealing the victory late on.
But he was then involved in an unsavoury incident where he was accused of shouting ‘I’m f****** your Albanian mother’ in the direction of opposition defender Ezgjan Alioski.
Arnautovic, who is of Serbian heritage, appeared to make comments towards opposition players and then turned towards spectators. Reports alleged his initial remarks were aimed at defender Egzon Bejtulai and Ezgjan Alioski, who both have Albanian roots, before he was restrained by team-mate David Alaba.
UEFA subsequently issued Arnautovic with a one-match ban following his outburst, but made no reference to racism in their ruling.
Arnautovic later took to Instagram to apologise for his actions and insisted he was not a racist.
‘There were some heated words yesterday in the emotions of the game for which I would like to apologise – especially to my friends from North Macedonia and Albania,’ he wrote.
‘I would like to say one thing very clearly: I am not a racist. I have friends in almost every country and I stand for diversity. Everyone who knows me is aware of that.’
Arnautovic returned to the Austria side later in the tournament before their last-16 exit, and then went back to Italy that summer as he signed for Bologna.
He hit the ground running, scoring 14 goals in Serie A, and was then linked with a shock move to Manchester United in 2022.
United fans made their feelings clear on the proposed transfer as they called for the club to look for alternative options following his controversial remarks at Euro 2020.
In the end, he didn’t move to Old Trafford, but he did join a big club last year when he re-signed for Inter.
In his first year back with the Nerazzurri, he scored five league goals as they ran away with the Serie A title, but their Champions League campaign ended with a disappointing round of 16 elimination at the hands of Atletico Madrid.
Arnautovic tried a no-look finish against Atletico Madrid in the Champions League last term
He was accused of being ‘arrogant’ by Michael Owen, and it is not the first time that word has been used to describe him
Inter dominated the first leg at the San Siro, but only emerged with a 1-0 advantage, and Arnautovic was slammed by TNT Sports pundit Michael Owen for being ‘arrogant’ when he tried a no-look finish at a crucial point in the match.
It proved to be a pivotal miss as Inter were beaten 2-1 in the return leg before losing on penalties.
Still, Arnautovic did play his part in a title-winning campaign for Inter, and despite now being in his mid-thirties, he is still capable of producing a moment of magic.
But can he finally let his football do all the talking at Euro 2024? History suggests controversy is never far away when Arnautovic is involved as he prepares to take centre stage once more.
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