Marko Arnautovic 's brother and agent has confirmed that Bologna have received a transfer bid from a "well-known club" as he's being lined up for a shock move to Manchester United.
The 33-year-old, who's represented by older sibling Danijel, emerged as a surprise target during the Red Devils' disastrous 2-1 defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion on Sunday to start their Premier League campaign in calamitous fashion. Arnautovic knows new United manager Erik ten Hag and assistant Steve McClaren after working under the pair at Twente in the 2008-09 season, as the Dutch club finished second in the Eredivisie.
Speaking to Kurier Sport just hours after news broke that the Red Devils had seen their first offer of around £7million rejected, Danijel stated: "It's true that there's a bid from a well-known club. I'm in contact with Bologna to see if that can be realised."
Ten Hag has taken an interest in reuniting with the Austria international due to United's limited options in attack. Cristiano Ronaldo and Anthony Martial are the only two recognised strikers in the first team, but neither started Sunday's dismal defeat as new signing Christian Eriksen operated as a false nine for the first 53 minutes before dropping back into a preferred midfield role.
After the match, the Red Devils boss was tight-lipped when asked about Arnautovic. "I don't go into names and I think in this pre-season 250 players are involved or linked with us," Ten Hag declared. "So that's it."
The experienced forward is coming off the back of the best league campaign of his career in terms of goals scored, bagging 14 in 32 games during his first season with Italian outfit Bologna. Before that, 11 strikes for West Ham in 2017-18 was his most productive year.
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Arnautovic first made the move to England with Stoke City in 2013 and quickly became the Potters' talisman. West Ham paid a club-record £20m to secure his services four years later and sold him to Chinese Super League side Shanghai SIPG for a £2m profit after two impressive campaigns in east London.
United view the Serie A marksman as a short-term remedy to their striking woes, with Ronaldo still wanting to leave the club before the summer transfer window closes and Martial yet to prove himself as consistently good enough to lead the line at Old Trafford.
Arnautovic - who's believed to be extremely keen on joining the Red Devils - would add personality to a dressing room seemingly lacking in self-belief, it's added. But while United are confident about signing him, Ten Hag's current priority is to improve with the options that he currently has at his disposal. "We could do better with the players we had," the Dutchman affirmed on Sunday.
"We made mistakes on the ball and organisation mistakes in defending. We have to take the lessons and learn quickly from it. Brighton are a decent team, all the compliments, but I look to my team and we should not give two easy goals away."
