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This article is part of Football FanCast's Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers...

Marko Arnautovic was often “disrespectful” towards West Ham United’s women’s team before his departure from the club, according to former Irons star Claire Rafferty, per talkSPORT.

What’s she said?

The former Chelsea defender helped the Hammers’ ladies team to the Women’s FA Cup final in 2018/19 prior to her retirement, drawing the curtain down on a 13-year career.

Arnautovic, meanwhile, was sold on Monday to Shanghai SIPG for a fee that Football FanCast understands totals £22.5m.

And Rafferty has now lifted the lid on the forward’s behaviour in east London, insisting that he was often rude towards her and her team-mates.

She said: “I think in the end West Ham got fed up of him – he’s got a bit of an attitude, clearly.

“In and around the training ground he’d always be quite disruptive of our training sessions when he’d walk over.

“We train in the same place (as the men), but obviously on separate pitches, separated by one of the stadiums. On multiple occasions, he was just quite disruptive and disrespectful of our training sessions.

“He’d be walking back from finishing his training and would shout over the wall and just be disrespectful.

“Bearing in mind we were doing tactical work, it’s a total disregard for what we’re doing; there’s no way in hell any of us would do that during one of their training sessions.

“I think that’s just him, he’s clearly quite a boisterous character and is quite outspoken.”

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A revealing insight

This speaks to the manner in which Arnautovic has conducted himself throughout his spell in east London.

The former Stoke City forward first asked to leave the club in January and was actually sold after Manuel Pellegrini gave the green light, per FFC sources, having grown tired of his antics.

That he would behave in such a manner in front of other professionals, be they male or female, is revealing and lends weight to claims from sources that the Hammers were aware of how poor a deal Shanghai were offering, yet accepted it anyway to be rid of him.

West Ham’s ladies team will surely be thrilled to see the back of him if Rafferty’s claims are true.

Such behaviour is unlikely to be missed by the men, either.