The East Stand | Chinese Super League: red flags over Marko Arnautovic suggest another big name foreign signing that will end in tears

The summer transfer window is open for Chinese Super League sides and the profile of new signings has peaked overseas interest almost as much as the 2017 spending spree. The biggest deal so far has been Shanghai SIPG’s signing of Austria international Marko Arnautovic who has finally arrived from English Premier League side West Ham United after a protracted pursuit. It’s an odd signing on the face of it and how the cut-price Zlatan Ibrahimovic deals with China is going to be fascinating. He arrives at the champions with the side still in the title race and gunning for a first AFC Champions League. There is a chance his season ends with the silverware he has claimed to crave, but it could go the other way. This is a player whose career has been defined as much off the pitch as it has on it. The 30-year-old described himself as “no angel” and former manager Jose Mourinho described him as a “great guy, but he has the mentality of a child”. Mark Hughes, his boss at Stoke City, where the Austrian played the best football of his career, said he had “matured” but he then threw his toys out of the pram to get a move to West Ham and then did the same thing to swap East London for the Far East. Marko Arnautovic arrived at Shanghai this morning. Sun Xiang, the ex-PSV Eindhoven defender who is currently the deputy sporting director of Shanghai SIPG, came to the Pudong Airport to pick him up. Would the Austrian star chose the No. 7 shirt, left by the club legend Wu Lei？ pic.twitter.com/d5o9ylrPMx — Titan Sports Plus (@titan_plus) July 10, 2019 He even insulted Hammers fans. “Most of them have no work, probably no life and no idea,” he said. “I respect every real fan, so don’t get me wrong.” But people often get him wrong. Mourinho is said to have considered Arnautovic “unmanageable” while Steve McLaren struggled with him at FC Twente. How will Victor Pereira cope? By his own admission, Arnautovic’s problems at Inter Milan were down to his taste for the nightlife and there is ample temptation in Shanghai. Welcome to the #ACL2019, Marko #Arnautovic! pic.twitter.com/8gUuf0A50T — AFC Champions League (@TheAFCCL) July 8, 2019 He has also had his problems with the national team and does not deal well with authority, notably insulting a Vienna policeman with the line “Shut up. I earn so much money I can buy your life.” He earns even more now in China. The player has also had his moments with teammates. “He has his own way of doing things, which is particularly unwelcome at Bremen,” Werder Bremen captain Thorsten Frings told Kicker in 2010. “He argues too much, often says no and must find a balance that does not come across so arrogantly.” Arnautovic has also fallen foul of the media. While at Bremen he also told an Austrian magazine of his taste in women – “You must be tattooed. And have black hair and silicone breasts” – before claiming they made it up. The magazine released the recording. Marko Arnautovic is not in the Shanghai SIPG 18-man squad for the CSL match tonight against Jiangsu Suning. He will have to wait for a few days for his CSL debut, possibly on Wednesday against Hebei CFFC in Shanghai Stadium. pic.twitter.com/jCJCpaBcaF — Titan Sports Plus (@titan_plus) July 13, 2019 It’s fair to say there may be trouble ahead in China where foreign signings often come unstuck, one way or another. Generally, they fall into one of three categories: unqualified success, explosive failure or entirely forgettable. It would be fair to say that Arnautovic will not fall into the latter bracket. Even success is no guarantee. Players who do well can still find themselves shipped out for bigger names, as has happened in Dalian Yifang with Nyasha Mushekwi expected to drop down a division for Solomon Rondon to reunite with former Newcastle United manager Rafa Benitez. While Carlos Tevez might be the shorthand for high profile imports going wrong he is far from the only foreign footballer to struggle in China. The language is an issue and for players who don’t think they are going to stay long-term, many don’t bother. Culture shock an be an issue, too, and not everyone acts like Alexandre Pato did when at Tianjin Quanjian and embraces every opportunity. The Brazilian’s Weibo account should act as a guide for how foreign players should act in China, even if they have come just for the money. View this post on Instagram Today I went to Chaoyang Primary School and had a wonderful experience with the students. Football is an amazing sport from which we can learn not only about sport but also rules of life. Football and education go together and I sincerely hope Chinese school football education can develop better and better. And I will be here always available to support local Chinese football schools and see the kids growing up playing this sport. Seeing the kids smiling and happy is amazing! Thank you kids... I love you ️ A post shared by AP (@pato) on Nov 12, 2018 at 5:14am PST Instead, over the years we have seen players get into trouble. Maurice Ross had a brief stint at Beijing Guoan in 2010 and it was more notable for him getting into an altercation in the city’s bar district than his 14 appearances. Fellow Scot Derek Riordan revealed his struggles with the food and what counted as team bonding at Shaaxni Chanba. A documentary about Paul Gascoigne’s time in the Chinese second division in the early 2000s painted an even bleaker picture. Unlike Gazza, Pato takes to China like a duck to water The image of Gazza relentlessly tucking into bags of dried shrimp is haunting to this day. Issues with weight and fitness are not on unusual, again Tevez is the poster boy. The Argentina man was dropped for being fat. Even the players who deliver in matches can struggle. Oscar has been a success at Shanghai SIPG but he fell foul of the Chinese FA with an eight-game ban for starting a melee by kicking the ball at Guangzhou R&F players. Welcome Marko Arnautovic ⚽️ pic.twitter.com/vOOxhWdmpY — Oscar (@oscar8) July 10, 2019 Maybe the Brazilian can have a quiet word with the fiery Arnautovic? Past evidence suggests that there will be nothing quiet about his stay in Shanghai.

.css-1m2rp1p{color:#34b8b5;}The East Stand | Chinese Super League: red flags over Marko Arnautovic suggest another big name foreign signing that will end in tears

The East Stand | Chinese Super League: red flags over Marko Arnautovic suggest another big name foreign signing that will end in tears