Peter Coates admits Stoke City feel let down by Marko Arnautovic after a lack of loyalty was shown to the Premier League club.

The Austrian recently ended his four-year stay when he left Staffordshire to become West Ham’s club-record signing, in a move worth around £20million with a further £5million in add-ons.

The 28-year-old joined the club from Werder Bremen in 2013 with a reputation for being a talented individual with an apparently questionable attitude.

The former Inter Milan winger went on to score 26 goals and assist 32 more in 145 appearances for the Potters, signing a new four-year contract in July 2016 in the process.

But interest from the Hammers led to Arnautovic handing in a transfer request and he has since completed his move to Slaven Bilic’s side.

“I was very disappointed because he is a wonderful player,” the Potters chairman told the Alan Brazil Sports Breakfast.

“We are disappointed in him personally and [with] the people around him.

“We resurrected his career. Our manager and coaches worked very hard to improve him – and they’ve done that. They made him a name in the game.

“Last year we put so much effort into giving him a long-term contract which was supposed to be it, and first thing we get in the summer he comes back and wants to leave.

“So yes, we are very disappointed but the team is more important than the individual.”

Mark Hughes’ side have signed Kurt Zouma on loan from Chelsea, as well as Darren Fletcher, Josh Tymon and Tre Pemberton on permanent deals from West Brom, Hull and Blackburn respectively.

Jon Walters, Shay Given and Glenn Whelan are among the names Arnautovic has followed out of the bet365 Stadium and Coates expects more signings to be made.

He continued: “We are still looking to improve the squad before the transfer window closes, we are in the market and it’s trying to find the right players that suit your club on terms you can afford.

“We want to be competitive, we have sort of been in that mid-table area and we are always trying to get better, everyone wants to do well, every club wants to get better and we are no different.

“The top six clubs – their economic model is so far ahead of the rest of us. You have to be realistic about it.

“Everton have [spent big], but they had a huge windfall on Lukaku so what you have to look at is net spend, that is the critical factor.”

Listen to Peter Coates on the Alan Brazil Sports Breakfast, as he discusses the Potters, spending in modern-day football and more…