Bologna have reiterated to Manchester United that they don't want to lose star striker Marko Arnautovic.
The 33-year-old forward has emerged as a target for Erik ten Hag after United submitted a shock bid worth around £7million over the weekend. But despite Arnautovic sharing a personal connection with Ten Hag, the offer was rejected by Italian side Bologna, who view the ex- West Ham and Stoke talisman as pivotal to their aspirations this season.
After Bologna' sporting director, Marco di Vaio, labelled Arnautovic 'priceless', manager Sinisa Mihajlovic echoed his stance both before and after their 1-0 victory over Cosenza in the Coppa Italia on Monday. Austria international Arnautovic played the full 90 minutes.
Pre-match, Mihajlovic explained that "it's not a question of money, it's priceless for what it represents for us" before adding: "He has no market value."
And following his side's hard-fought win, the Serbian boss stated: "If he were to go away it would be a great loss. I would be happy for him, but I think he will stay in the end. We talked to each other, surely if he stays here he will train well and do what he has to do. If he goes away we will see, but I don't think so."
Mihajlovic's comments were similar to those from Di Vaio earlier in the evening, who declared: "We're proud of United's interest for Marko but we are not planning to sell him. We want to keep him at Bologna, he's key part of our project - there's not even price tag."
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While the duo could simply be hiking up Arnautovic's price tag by making clear his importance to Bologna, their unwillingness to sell the him serves as a fresh blow to Ten Hag - but hardly an unfamiliar one. The Red Devils have reportedly missed out on a host of targets this summer as the Dutch tactician begins his rebuild, with a new striker being one of his priorities.
Speculation surrounding Arnautovic ensued during their calamitous opening-day defeat to Brighton on Sunday, when neither Anthony Martial or Cristiano Ronaldo were fit enough to start the 2-1 loss at Old Trafford. But Ten Hag was tight-lipped when asked to shed light on United's plans to bolster their forward line in the final three weeks of summer transfer window.
"I don't go into names because I think, in this pre-season, 250 players are involved or linked to Man United," the former Ajax manager told reporters post-match. "We have two strikers, maybe a third one with [Marcus] Rashford as well, you could see him as a striker.
"He had a really good pre-season on the left side and also today had two really good chances, coming in from the left side, so I think it was the right decision to do it like this. But we didn't have the typical nine. He was not available today."
