Marko Arnautovic has ended speculation surrounding his future by appearing to commit his future to West Ham.
The Austrian forward had been linked with a lucrative move to China but in an Instagram post he revealed he will remain at the London Stadium until at least the end of the season.
Arnautovic, 29, was the subject of a reported £35million bid from a Chinese club, thought to be Shanghai SIPG, and he admitted he had been tempted by the move, but now wants to "put a stop" to the speculation.
Despite stories on Friday afternoon suggesting West Ham had agreed to let him leave should their asking price of £50million be met, Arnautovic later said that he intends to try to help the club win the FA Cup.
It looks as though Marko Arnautovic is staying at West Ham (via @m.arnautovic7) pic.twitter.com/6G1quwtcJ1 — PA Dugout (@PAdugout) January 25, 2019
"Dear West Ham fans, I guess it's no secret that there has been an offer for me and I have admit that the offer was a very tempting one for me and my family," wrote Arnautovic in an Instagram story.
"I've given 100 per cent to my club duties but I have also needed some time to talk to my club, my wife and the rest of my family.
"I have now decided to put a stop to all the writings and speculation. I'm a professional footballer and the only thing I know in life is to play football.
"It's clear that London and West Ham United feels like home for me and I hope the West Ham fans have always seen that.
"The club has pointed my career in the right direction since I joined and therefore I want to put the offers aside, help the club to climb as high as possible in the table and try to win the Cup.
"Let's focus on the rest of this season together and let them bubbles fly COYI."
West Ham boss Manuel Pellegrini had made it clear the club did not want to sell their joint-top scorer this season, but he left Arnautovic out of the Premier League squad against Bournemouth last weekend, where the Hammers lost 2-0.
Arnautovic, who is under contract until 2022, was back in training this week but it remains to be seen if he will be involved in the FA Cup fourth round tie at AFC Wimbledon on Saturday.
ga('create', 'UA-72310761-1', 'auto', {'name': 'pacontentapi'});
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'referrer', location.origin);
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension1', 'By Press Association Sport staff');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension2', '6315e7f1-31fe-4b5a-9f09-0046c2806793');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension3', 'paservice:sport,paservice:sport:football,paservice:sport:uk,paservice:sport:world');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension6', 'story');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension7', 'composite');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension8', null);
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension9', 'sport:football');
ga('pacontentapi.send', 'pageview', { 'location': location.href, 'page': (location.pathname + location.search + location.hash), 'title': 'Arnautovic commits to West Ham after China speculation'});
