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Former Newcastle United and Blackburn Rovers striker Alan Shearer has claimed that news of Manchester United's pursuit of Bologna striker Marko Arnautovic was leaked from inside the club's camp.
With Anthony Martial out with a hamstring injury and Cristiano Ronaldo's future up in the air, the Red Devils are currently in the market for a striker. The club were linked with Arnautovic for a while before a potential move fell through following backlash from fans.
After tabling an initial bid of £6.8 million for Arnautovic, Manchester United decided against pursuing the player, as per The Athletic.
The club received complaints from fans about the Austrian, who was accused of using anti-Albanian slurs against North Macedonia's Ezgjan Alioski at last year's European Championships. The former West Ham United man was handed a one-match ban by UEFA but denied the allegations.
Speaking on Match of the Day (via Mirror), Shearer shared his suspicions about the potential deal involving Arnautovic. He said:
"I'm convinced that someone from United leaked the story linking them with Arnautovic, just to see what the reaction was. The reaction was that bad that they then had to pull out and I'm pretty convinced."
He continued:
"I think that sort of sums up where United are. They're in a mess and it's going to take time, an unbelievable amount of money to get things right inside the football club and in terms of the right recruitment and it’s going to take a lot of patience from the United fans because of where they are now to where they want to be – miles away."
As per the aforementioned report, a fan of North Macedonian descent wrote to Manchester United to question the club's zero tolerance approach to racism amid speculations involving Arnautovic. Several fans also emailed club chief executive Richard Arnold voicing their concerns.
So far, the Red Devils have secured the signings of centre-back Lisandro Martinez from Ajax, left-back Tyrell Malacia from Feyenoord and midfielder Christian Eriksen on a Bosman move this summer.
Gabriel Agbonlahor prefers Marko Arnautovic over Jadon Sancho at Manchester United
Speaking to talkSPORT (via Daily Star), former Aston Villa striker Gabriel Agbonlahor claimed that Marko Arnautovic would make Manchester United a better squad than forward Jadon Sancho.
"I don't know who Manchester United fans think they are. Arnautovic makes that squad a better squad. He [Jadon Sancho] gets the ball [and] he passes it back to [Diogo] Dalot. He hides. He doesn't attack players. I'd rather Arnautovic in my team than Jadon Sancho at the moment."
Arnautovic registered 15 goals and one assist in 34 matches for Bologna in the 2021-22 season.
