Stoke City chairman Peter Coates has confirmed that the club have rejected a £15m bid from West Ham United for Marko Arnautovic.
The 28-year-old has emerged as one of West Ham's main transfer targets this summer and is attempting to push for an exit from the bet365 Stadium having handed in a transfer request yesterday.
However, Coates remains hopeful of keeping the Austrian at the club and revealed that Arnautovic will hold talks with manager Mark Hughes in the coming days.
"We have received a bid from West Ham for Marko and it was turned down," Coates is quoted as saying by The Telegraph.
"Mark is planning to meet with the player and hopefully he can find a positive resolution, as he did last year.
"We will only sell Marko if the terms are right but he's not a player we want to lose."
Arnautovic has scored 26 goals in 145 appearances for Stoke, including seven in 35 outings last season.
Barney Corkhill
