- Marko Arnautovic was slow to adapt to life with West Ham after Stoke transfer
- Forward drew whistles and boos from Hammers fans on occasion early on
- Arnautovic said: ‘It hurt me in the beginning when I heard people whistling me’
- He has now turned a corner and has netted seven goals in his last nine games
Marko Arnautovic has admitted he was ‘hurt’ by West Ham fans labelling him as a flop after his £25m move from Stoke last summer.
It took the Austrian time to settle and Hammers supporters made their feelings known with whistles and boos at London Stadium.
‘It hurt me in the beginning when I heard people whistling me in the stadium, because they expected me to do better,’ he told the Mirror.
Marko Arnautovic struggled at West Ham early in the season after his £25million move
The Hammers forward was booed and whistled by supporters for his displays
‘But now I am playing for my team and playing for the fans because the fans are a big part of this club.
‘They pay a lot of money the whole year to come and watch us and, of course, they want us to perform.’
The 28-year-old failed to score for his new club until December but has since found his best form.
Arnautovic has since turned the corner and scored seven goals in his last nine games
With seven goals in his last nine matches, Arnautovic has emerged as a key player for David Moyes and accepts the early criticism levelled at him.
‘I didn’t want this to happen, as I wanted to make an impact immediately at West Ham, but everything was going around and I was obviously in the spotlight because I came for a lot of money and didn’t perform how I wanted to or how the fans were expecting of me.’
‘Now, I feel fit and had a lot of talks with my family and got into myself and said, ‘Let’s go Marko. You need to change things, try your best and work even harder,’ he added.
Arnautovic will be looking to continue his momentum when West Ham take on Liverpool at Anfield on Saturday.
David Moyes will be hoping the Austrian forward can continue in his current vein