West Ham have been in fine form of late, accumulating 16 Premier League points since the start of December, while a cup run is on the cards after they progressed through to the fourth round of the FA Cup last weekend.
However, the club have now been rocked by a bid for star man Marko Arnautovic who could be set to leave the Iron in the January transfer window.
Arnautovic signed from Stoke in 2017 for a then club-record £20million, and has since cemented himself as a firm fans favourite and pivotal cog in Manuel Pellegrini's team; bagging seven goals in 15 league appearances this season, while he's scored three in his last two matches in all competitions.
But BBC Sport reports that West Ham have been subject to a huge £35m bid for their 29-year-old forward, whose salary would soar.
The offer is not from a Premier League club - both Manchester United and Chelsea have been linked - but from an unnamed Chinese Super League outfit who have cash to splash and have set their sights on luring 'Arnie' over to Asia.
West Ham are likely to turn the bid down given the timing, but should the anonymous club return with a whopping bid in excess of £40m, they may well be tempted to let their star man depart.
As you'd expect, the West Ham faithful have not taken to kindly to the news of a possible exit...
If we even consider this, we are insane. Double it, with all of it up front, and I might consider it. Might. (@westham009)
It’s some Chinese club that probably will go bankrupt with extortionate player wages. Added to that he won’t want to ruin his career like a lot players have. (StuartDuck87)
He's got enough money and playing in the best most high profile league in the world...time to start valuing a legacy over currency ⚒️⚒️ (@72Sawry)
Arnie is at the peak of his career ,a player of his quality is worth £50m .It may boost his bank balance considerably going to play Chinese football,but would be a bad career move if trophies is what he's after.If he does move this window Westham can forget top 8 or FA CUP (@pepeDaina)
I don't think for one second that Marko Arnautovic would be interested in a move to China. £35m is nowhere near enough to even consider selling him anyway. (@WHUFCFZ)
It’s not hard to keep him, you simply reject the offer, if it even exists. (@gary_killington)
If he left, it'd be for a CL team. This won't happen. He will stay at least untill summer (@nick1995whufc)
Double it and then we might have a decision to make (@JoelSaffer)
Really don't see this happening, we've already turned down enquiries/unofficial "bids" in the last year. Can't see anyone matching our valuation for Arnie. Pellegrini/Husillos do have a replacement in mind if he was to leave though. (@I_I_T_F
