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How do you solve a problem like Marko Arnautovic? Well, when he gets particularly greedy and dazzled by the bright lights of China, you offer him an enigmatic new contract worth £110,000 per week, according to Football FanCast sources, and hope that his transfer fiasco will be brushed under the carpet.

But the three-pronged relationship between Arnautovic, the fans and the manager has almost been tarnished beyond repair. The powerful attacker notched seven goals and provided two assists prior to West Ham's home fixture against Arsenal in January, in which he waved goodbye to the fans when he was withdrawn by Manuel Pellegrini, but he has only added a solitary goal contribution since the fiasco was temporarily laid to rest.

Arnautovic signed the new deal on January 26th 2019, exactly ten weeks ago to the day. In that time he has been booed by supporters, cut a detached figure on the field, thrown tantrums on the substitutes bench and provided a single assist. Sorry, we almost forgot to mention, he's also banked £1.1million in the same space of time.

It's easy to sympathise with those supporters who feel compelled to articulate their disdain for a player who was unanimously adored just a few months ago.

There is a lingering feeling that Arnautovic, to a degree, betrayed the club by expressing a desire to leave midway through the season. And while his decision to pen a new deal should, in theory, have been regarded as a positive development, his presence is beginning to feel more detrimental than progressive.

When you break down the financial implications of Arnautovic's new deal, it's difficult to justify the decision from David Gold and David Sullivan to offer an extension; perhaps they should have cashed in while they had the chance.

When Arnautovic is at his scintillating best it's clear to see the desire and hunger running through his veins. He relishes individual battles both physically and tactically and uses his ultra-competitive streak to outwit his opponent. Take that away and what we have is a distinctly average player.

Recent weeks have underlined how the mental aspect of his game is his most performance-defining. With the ghost of January's fiasco still looming at the London Stadium feast, Arnautovic has left his head in China, inadvertently conspiring against his chances of securing a high-profile summer move in the process.

Following the award of his new deal, Pellegrini has handed him just 356 minutes of senior football with which to salvage his stuttering reputation in east London, at a startling cost of £3090 per minute.

Back in January, the mercurial centre-forward may well have been considered a perfect successor to Diego Costa at Chelsea, but the substance behind that notion is crumbling as West Ham prepare to travel to Chelsea on Monday evening.

Perhaps what Arnautovic really needs is a confidence-boosting goal to resurrect the imperious form which made him subject of a £35 million January bid in the first place.

There are easier grounds than Stamford Bridge on which to break a goal-drought, but Maurizio Sarri's side are riddled with frailties and it would be fitting for Arnautovic to fire his way back into club stardom with a match-winning showing against a fierce London rival.

Right now Gold and Sullivan's decision to snub advances from China and extend Arnautovic's deal looks like a colossal blunder, but is an unforeseen twist lying just around the corner?