Marko Arnautović

Early career

Arnautović began his career with his brother Danijel at Floridsdorfer AC. In 1998, he joined FK Austria Wien but behaviour issues saw him change clubs regularly as in the next six years he played for First Vienna FC 1894, a second spell at FK Austria Wien, and SK Rapid Wien before he returned to Floridsdorfer AC. Despite this he was scouted by Dutch club FC Twente who signed him in 2006.

Twente

Arnautović scored 22 goals in 24 matches for the Under-19 FC Twente in the 2007–08 season, helping them win the youth championship. He then played for Jong FC Twente between 2006 and 2008, appearing in 32 matches and scoring 27 goals. Arnautović made his professional debut for FC Twente in the 2006–07 season as a substitute for Kennedy Bakircioglu against PSV Eindhoven in April 2007. In July 2008, he extended his contract with Twente despite interest from Dutch giant Feyenoord. He made 16 appearances in 2007–08 as Twente finished in fourth position and qualified for the UEFA Champions League. In the 2008–09 season Arnautović scored 14 goals in 41 matches as Twente finished 2nd in the Eredivisie and reached the knock out phase of the UEFA Cup. In March 2009 after a league match against Willem II, one of Twente opponents, Ibrahim Kargbo, accused Arnautović of racially abusing him. An investigation by the Dutch Football Association found no evidence against him, and the case was dismissed.

Loan to Inter Milan

On 4 August 2009, it was said that…

Youth

Arnautović played with the Austrian under-19 side in the 2007 UEFA European Under-19 Championship where he was sent-off in their second match and failed to make it out of the group stage. He made four appearances in total at under-19 level. He scored three goals in five matches for the Austria under-21 team. After scoring a free-kick in an under-21 game against Denmark in March 2010, Arnautović earned praise from manager Andreas Herzog who described him as the best Austrian footballer of the last 30 years.

Senior

Arnautović played his first match for the Austria national senior team on 11 October 2008, against the Faroe Islands. He scored his first goals for Austria in a 3–0 win over Azerbaijan on 8 October 2010. Arnautović started in all ten of Austria's matches during their successful UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying campaign, scoring in a win over Montenegro and both fixtures against neighbours Liechtenstein. On 31 May 2016, he was selected in the Austrian squad for the UEFA Euro 2016. Arnautović started all but one of Austria's qualification matches for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, only missing the game against the Republic of Ireland through suspension. He scored four goals in the 10 games, but Austria's fourth-place finish would not be enough for qualification. On 24 May 2021, Arnautović was called up for the delayed UEFA Euro 2020. On 13 June, he scored the third goal for Austria during their first game of Group C against North Macedonia. During the goal…

Possessing a powerful physique and good technique, Arnautović is known for his ability to hold up the ball with his back to goal and bring his teammates into play with his link-up play. Despite his size, he also possesses significant pace and stamina, and is known for his ability to exploit spaces with his runs or run at opponents with the ball, while his height helps him to win aerial challenges. A versatile forward, Arnautović has played in several offensive positions: for the majority of his career, he served as a winger; however, during the 2017–18 season, his West Ham manager David Moyes made the decision to transition the Austrian effectively into a striker or a centre-forward, in order to utilise his physical and technical abilities in central areas of the pitch. Despite his playing ability, however, he was also a temperamental player, who was involved in several controversial incidents throughout his career. His skills and playing style have led him to be compared to Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimović in the media.

Marko Arnautović was born on 19 April 1989 in Vienna, to a Serbian father and an Austrian mother. Arnautović is a Serbian Orthodox Christian. He is married to Sarah (née Lizakowski), and together they have two daughters, Emilia and Alicia. During his time spent in Italy and Germany, Arnautović developed a reputation with the media as "the bad boy of Austrian football". Speaking on the matter in October 2013, he admitted he was "not an angel" but insisted that the birth of his daughter had made him "grow up".