Marko Arnautovic, a player of Serbian origin and currently a Bologna striker, revealed why he decided to return to Italy this summer.
“There were those who asked me why Bologna? I told them that some Atalanta players must have been asked the same thing six years ago. Now, look at where Atalanta is. It is a whole road, step by step “, said Arnautovic at the beginning of the conversation for Gazeta Delo Sport.
In 2009, he signed for Inter and then was led by Jose Mourinho.
“At Inter, I was like a boy in an amusement park. Big city, big contract, big champion, everything is brilliant. Every day I was happy to see the champions next to me. However, for me, the most important thing was to go out in the evening. I was interested in everything except football. Did I have bad boy status? I was never interested in what others would say… It was only after six months that I started focusing on football. Mourinho made me understand a few things and I started working seriously. I was there, but I never wanted to say in interviews that I won a trophy, I was more of a fan. ” – Said Arnautovic
He added that he never wanted to take revenge on Inter:
“I did not return to Italy to take revenge but to close one circle. My new career was born in Stoke because there I finally became focused only on football. That continued in West Ham. It was nice for me in England. I received offers from Russia, Turkey, and MLS. I talked to my brother, the agent. We all said no to those offers, and then an offer from China followed and I decided to make a new life. Great people were waiting for me there, great team, Shanghai was beautiful. Everything was ready, a job for a woman, a school for children… but then the pandemic came and everything changed, I lived alone for two years… It was hard for me, so I said to myself: I am returning to Europe. I want to be with my loved ones. ” – Arnautovic
Behind the end, he said a few words about his current club, Bologna:
“Then I replied that I could not accept because I have to finish my trip to Shanghai. But Bologna reappeared in the summer with a concrete, serious offer, unlike other clubs. Then a conversation with Siniša Mihajlović followed, before the European Championship, which convinced me of the whole story and I thought: this is my next team “, concluded Arnautovic.
