West Ham will have to pay a club record fee to sign Marko Arnautovic after seeing a second offer of £20 million rejected for the winger by Stoke City.
The Hammers have made Arnautovic one of their top transfer targets this summer as Slaven Bilic looks to add quality and experience to his side.
Stoke chairman Peter Coates confirmed earlier this week that the club had turned down an initial offer from West Ham and manager Mark Hughes, while admitting Arnautovic had handed in a transfer request, has insisted the Potters don’t want to sell.
And it appears that resolution is holding, with the Telegraph reporting that Stoke have turned away a second offer of £20m for Arnautovic from the Irons.
The latest bid is believed to be £5m more than West Ham’s initial offer but Stoke are holding firm in a bid to retain one of their best players.
West Ham are expected to come in with a third offer for the 28-year-old in the coming days but such an amount will have to be a club record fee, besting the £20m that the London side paid to Swansea City for Andre Ayew last summer.
Ayew created just 15 chances in 25 league games last season – Arnautovic managed 50 in 32 games.
It remains to be seen if Stoke will consider West Ham’s latest approach but the club are eager to retain the services of a winger who only signed a new, four-year deal last year.
West Ham’s summer has only seen them acquire Pablo Zabaleta on a free transfer from Manchester City and the club is eager to step up their recruitment process with just a month until the new season begins.
The Irons have also been heavily linked with a loan move for Manchester City’s England international goalkeeper Joe Hart.