Jose Mourinho shares just how cocky Arnautovic was at 18 with Ibrahimovic dig
Marko Arnautovic shocked Jose Mourinho with his unrivalled confidence after joining Inter Milan on loan from FC Twente back in 2009 – rating himself as better than Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
The former Stoke and West Ham forward, who received a suspension at Euro 2020 before helping Austria reach the knockout stages, has been a controversial character throughout his career.
Now shining for Shanghai Port in the Chinese Super League, a full 12 years have passed since he first tried his hand in the major European leagues with Inter in Serie A.
After a season-long loan, Inter and Mourinho decided not to hand Arnautovic a permanent deal, with the Portuguese boss saying that he "is a fantastic person but has the attitude of a child".
Mourinho has now been asked about his first meeting with the former Werder Bremen forward, and how the youngster thought he was better that Ibrahimovic, Adriano and Hernan Crespo.
Mourinho told talkSPORT: "My technical director at Inter, Marco Branca, he arrived with that player that he followed and he wanted to bring over from Holland. He [Arnautovic] was 18.
"When Branca arrives with him we were training. They stay there on the touchline and in the middle of the training session I decided to go over and say hello to them.
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"At the time, in my first season at Inter, my strikers were Ibrahimovic, Adriano, Hernan Crespo and Julio Cruz.
"I go to Branca and Arnautovic, we shake hands and share a few words and Marko tells me, 'Mister, I'm better than all of them.'
"Ibrahimovic, Adriano, Hernan Crespo and Julio Cruz – Marko is 18 and he's better than all of them!"
He added: "This is Marko. A kid with incredible confidence, incredible happiness, very emotional, very sweet, he's everything that you want in a group.
"The group loves him. He can have these bad emotional reactions, but he was an amazing kid and now he's an amazing family guy.
"He's completely different in terms of his life outside the professional life, but this is Marko."
During his time with West Ham, David Moyes said he had doubts about Arnautovic's attitude – but then compared him with Sweden icon Ibrahimovic.
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"He is a little bit of a Zlatan (Ibrahimovic) in as much as the players look to him. He's got a leadership role which he needs to develop as well, for the club and for the team.
"He's getting to an age now where he's going to influence players, and he's going to have to influence players around him, so he needs to be doing it by his leadership and performance.
"His performances have done it in many ways."
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