Marko Arnautovic makes personal calls to West Ham fans to win back their hearts

MARKO ARNAUTOVIC stunned West Ham fans with surprise phone calls to try to win back their hearts. The striker’s popularity with supporters took s huge hit when his head was turned by a £300K a week offer to play in China during the January transfer window. Colourful Arnie decided a series of heart-to-heart chats with […]

MARKO ARNAUTOVIC stunned West Ham fans with surprise phone calls to try to win back their hearts.

The striker’s popularity with supporters took s huge hit when his head was turned by a £300K a week offer to play in China during the January transfer window.

Reuters

Colourful Arnie decided a series of heart-to-heart chats with punters could help mend the wounds by putting his side of the story.

He sent out messages to selected fans on Instagram and once contact was made called them up to offer a full explanation of the situation in an frank conversation.

Arnautovic scored twice in a 4-2 defeat by Israel on Sunday but he has not scored a goal for West Ham since an FA Cup win over Birmingham on January 5.

He has also slipped down the pecking order in the squad.

His start in West Ham’s 4-3 win over Huddersfield two weeks ago was his first for a month.

Arnautovic signed a new three year contract in the wake of interest from Chinese Super League champions Shanghai SIPG.

He is now determined to regain their trust and to prove it took the unusual step of reaching out to a group of supporters in a bid to get back in the good books.

The Hammers take on Everton today looking for a win that will help their bid to finish seventh in the Premier League this season.

Manuel Pellegrini’s side are currently in ninth, two points adrift of seventh-placed Wolves, and the London club have targeted finishing the best of the rest outside the top six.