Marko Arnautovic has been left out of West Ham’s squad to face Bournemouth on Saturday.
talkSPORT understands the striker, who wants to seal a lucrative move to China, will not be part of the Irons squad which travels to the south coast this weekend.
The former Stoke man took part in the club’s pattern-of-play training as final preparations geared towards the clash with the Cherries.
The 29-year-old was therefore due to be named on the substitutes bench, but that is understood not to be the case now.
To date the Hammers have not received an offer which matches their valuation of the forward.
Last week Arnautovic’s agent and brother exclusively told talkSPORT that the forward wanted to leave the London Stadium this month.
The Hammers have already rejected an offer of £35million from an unnamed Chinese Super League side for the Austria international, who cost the club £20m to buy in 2017.
Arnautovic has his heart set on a move overseas though, so will be hoping a deal can be struck before the transfer window closes.
Hammers boss Manuel Pellegrini insists he will not stop the forward moving on – if the deal is right for both parties.
He said: “I am not telling the club about it. If it’s a good deal for both parties we will arrange to be without Marko.
“But the club doesn’t want to sell him.”
While there are reports indicating that a potential move to China has collapsed, talkSPORT understands a deal is not dead in the water.