West Ham chose to sell Marko Arnautovic after becoming concerned he would go on strike.

Arnautovic sealed a £22.5million move to Chinese club Shanghai SiPG on Tuesday with the Hammers fuming at losing money on the deal.

He had slapped in a formal transfer request in a bid to force their hand after Shanghai had tabled a bid of more than £12m less than the Londoners' valuation for the player.

But West Ham had no option but to sell, with manager Manuel Pellegrini and their other players fearing the 30-year-old would allow his commitment to dip — as it is claimed he did after he was denied a move to another Chinese Super League club, Guangzhou Evergrande, in January, says the Mirror.

The former Stoke star, wanted to avail himself of the wages of around £200,000-a-week in China and is understood to have sulked after seeing a move vetoed.