Branislav Ivanovic has risked incurring the wrath of Stoke City supporters by stating that forward Marko Arnautovic has outgrown his current club, according to a report in theDaily Mail.
The Chelsea defender said thathe believed that Arnautovic's maturity - both in terms of performance and attitude - over the past two seasons has meant that he has outlived his stay at the Bet365 stadium.
Arnautovic was linked with a summer move to Everton, but decided to remain with the Potters and penned a new four-year contract to stay with Stoke until the summer of 2020.
Ivanovic and Arnautovic will face off against one another in Serbia's home clash with Austria in a 2018 World Cup Group D qualifier on Sunday, and have played against each other on numerous occasions in the Barclays Premier League.
And 32-year-old Ivanovic said that the forward was now at a point in his career where he should be playing for a bigger club than Mark Hughes' side.
He said: "He has perhaps improved beyond the quality of the club he plays for.
Arnautovic with a second great goal https://t.co/UlbScFuTr2
"I have the utmost respect for Arnautovic because he has matured in the last year and a half or two. He has drawn a lot of attention here because of his heritage and in footballing terms.
"We have to close him down and if we do, we have a good chance of keeping a clean sheet."
Meanwhile, Ivanovic has called upon his Serbia team-mates to secure a much needed victory over Austria when the sides play each other in Belgrade.
Wales, Serbia, Ireland and Austria all currently boast four points from their opening two matches of a group that is already looking to be fiercely contested.
And the 89-times capped international believes that beating the away side would stand his nation in good stead for aiming for an automatic qualification berth come the end of the qualifying campaign.
Ivanovic added: "The match against Austria is incredibly important for both teams, not just for the sake of taking three points but also for the entire qualification process.
"In the past few campaigns, we were pretty much out of contention after the opening two or three games whereas the situation is entirely different now.
"It could be a turning-point for either team and winning would represent a giant step towards the World Cup."
Ivanovic has featured seven times for Chelsea so far this season.
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