Marko Arnautovic has a new club. On Monday, Red Star Belgrade announced the signing of the Austrian international.
It has been a tough transfer summer for green-and-white and red-and-white soccer fans. Now the seemingly endless saga has come to an end: Marko Arnautovic has found a new employer and signed with Red Star Belgrade. After his contract with Inter Milan expired, the Austrian international was available on a free transfer. Arnautovic has signed a two-year contract with the Serbian record champions, who have won the league title eight times in a row, until 2027.
According to consistent media reports, Arnautovic is set to earn a net salary of five million euros over the two years, making the striker the highest-paid player in the capital club’s history. On Tuesday, Red Star will face Lincoln Red Imps FC from Gibraltar in the Champions League qualifiers. As general manager Zvezdan Terzic confirmed to the Serbian news agency Tanjug, Arnautovic is set to make his debut for his new employer in the return leg on July 29.
Arnautovic to work for Red Star after retirement
“He is a player who brings people to the stadium,” Terzic said of Arnautovic. “I am firmly convinced that all our players will be 30 percent better with Marko than they have been so far.” According to the club boss, it has also been agreed as part of the deal that Arnautovic will work for Red Star after the end of his active career.
Arnautovic has made no secret of his fondness for Red Star in the past and was greeted enthusiastically by numerous fans at the airport on Monday.
Deal with Rapid falls through
SK Rapid had been trying unsuccessfully for weeks to sign the 36-year-old. Arnautovic would have earned a gross salary of six million euros over two seasons in western Vienna, with the Green-Whites wanting to cover the salary through third-party financing. Last week, his brother and manager Danijel Arnautovic revealed in an ORF interview that the Hütteldorf club’s offer was never considered ready to be signed.
After spells at FC Twente, Werder Bremen, Stoke City, West Ham United, Shanghai Port, FC Bologna, and Inter Milan twice, Red Star will be Arnautovic’s eighth international club. Following his transfer to Belgrade, Bremen will remain the only green and white episode in Arnautovic’s career.