Marko Arnautović joins Inter

How many adventures can you go on in thirteen years? How many places can you visit and how many people can you meet? The answer is not exactly easy to ascertain but each factor has contributed to the rise of Marko Arnautović, who now returns to Inter after travelling the world.

Born on 19 April 1989 in Vienna to a Serbian father and Austrian mother, Marko’s early life was spent in Floridsdorf on the outskirts of the Austrian capital. His father, Tomislav, who played as a forward in his village close to Belgrade, volunteered in the restaurant at Floridsdorfer AC, the small community club where he played in his free time. And it was here, in front of a backdrop of chimneys and factories, where Marko would spend his time, playing until the sun went down as his father trained. That’s the start of Arnautović’s story in the beautiful game.

Marko’s talent was obvious from a young age while playing for Floridsdorfer; he played youth football for Austria Wien, First Vienna and Rapid Wien, but would return to his first-ever playing field at FAC. That was until 2006 when, at 17 years of age, he moved to the Netherlands to join FC Twente. He got his first taste of men’s football against Enschede, then made his first team debut in 2007 and his first appearance in European football against Getafe in October of that same year.

He burst onto the scene for good in the 2008/09 season, scoring twelve goals and attracting the interest of various big clubs, but Marko chose Inter. The Austrian spent a single season in Milano, which just so happened to be the most successful in the Club’s history, but he only made three appearances.

The following season, Arnautović moved to Werder Bremen to start his journey around the world, which would then take him to England and Stoke City in 2013. In four seasons with the Potters, he won four successful relegation battles and the unending love of the supporters. His next move took him to East London and West Ham, where he would remain for two years and score 21 goals in total.

In 2019, it was time for a new adventure and Marko moved to China to sign for Shanghai SIPG. What awaited was a whole new world and a totally different style of football but an experience made all the more difficult due to the outbreak of the pandemic, which saw Marko make the decision to return to Europe. Destination: Italy. Destination: Bologna. And Arnautović quickly became a star for the Rossoblù, having the most prolific season of his career to date in 2021/22.

A physically imposing but technically-gifted player, Marko is the complete striker and is equally talented with both feet. He has become iconic for the Austria national team, for whom he is the most-capped player of all time with 108.

Now, he’s back at Inter, with the same hunger to impress that saw him move to Milano in 2009.

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