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Marko Arnautovic was on top form for Austria against Norway, and will have Potters fans reminiscing over his time at the club

Stoke City may have been rueing having no club football over the international break after their last two decent results, but eagle-eyed Potters fans will have been pleased to see one of their former players still impressing on the biggest stage for his country.

Marko Arnautovic joined Stoke from Werder Bremen in 2013, and became one of the most instrumental players in modern times for the club, before leaving for West Ham four years later after making nearly 150 appearances during his time in the Potteries.

He is a legend for the Austrian national team, as he is the most capped player in their history with 120 appearances since his debut in 2009, and the second-highest all-time top goalscorer for his country with 39 goals, just five behind record-holder Toni Polster.

His latest outing for Das Team was just another in a long line of brilliant performances that have cemented him as one of the most iconic figures in his country's sporting history, as he netted a brace in a UEFA Nations League B game to help Austria to a 5-1 thrashing of Erling Haaland's Norway.

Arnautovic's performance at the Raiffeisen Arena proved that he has still got the X-factor that made Stoke supporters adore him in his four years at the club, and while he now plays for Inter Milan, he will have had said fans dreaming of their Premier League days with the likes of him, Xherdan Shaqiri and Bojan leading the line.

Marko Arnautovic helped put Norway to the sword with ease

Many would have expected a much closer game than it turned out to be in Linz on Sunday evening, but Austria, led by ex-Manchester United boss Ralf Rangnick and captained by the mercurial Arnautovic, blew away their Scandinavian opponents and made it a second successive win by four goals to move joint-top of their group.

The 35-year-old's first real action of the game was to pick the ball up on the edge of the box from a Christoph Baumgartner pass, glide past a defender and smash a shot against the crossbar and into Orjan Nyland's net inside eight minutes, and it was a trademark rocket of a goal that Stoke fans were so used to seeing at the bet365 Stadium to fire Austria into an early lead.

Former Crystal Palace striker Alexander Sorloth got the visitors back on level terms just before the interval, but Austria were back in front not long into the second half, as Baumgartner was tripped inside the box and the resulting penalty was cooly dispatched by Arnautovic to restore the lead.

The frontman was not always the chief penalty-taker during his time with the Potters, but did score four of the five that he took across his four years at the club, and displayed his impressive credentials from the spot once again for his country against Norway.

Philipp Lienhart soon made it 3-1 from a corner, and Arnautovic helped to set up the attack for his side's fourth as Stefan Posch headed home, before he was substituted on 69 minutes to rapturous applause from the 16,000 home fans inside the Raiffeisen Arena.

Despite being in the twilight of his career at 35, Arnautovic is still clearly able to operate at the top level for his country, and that is testament to his determination to prolong his career, and adaptability from his days at Stoke where he was much more of a quick dribbling winger, rather than a poacher-style centre-forward.

Arnautovic was a key man for Stoke

Arnautovic joined the Potters in a deal worth £2m from Werder Bremen in the summer of 2013 as a 24-year-old, with a reputation for being a hot-headed, 'bad-boy of Austrian football' from his time with boyhood club FC Twente, Inter Milan, and Die Werderaner.

He was not the most prolific in his first two years in the Potteries, but was a hit with Stoke supporters for his eccentric persona on and off the pitch, and soon became one of the most important players in some of their most successful top-flight seasons in their history.

The Austrian was looked at as one of the most dangerous wingers in the Premier League for his standout performances in the 2015/16 and 2016/17 campaigns, and Stoke certainly got their money's worth when it came to him, given the modest fee paid and the moments of magic that he conjured up during his four-year stay, as he earned a £20m move to West Ham in 2017.

Arnautovic's exit left somewhat of a sour taste in the mouths of Potters fans that is still felt by some today, and while he may have left Stoke in those circumstances, it was a good move for his career at the time and his legacy at the club is what will be remembered fondly in years to come.

Potters fans that loved the Austrian will certainly keep an eye on the closing stages of his career at Inter and with his country, and it will be interesting to see if he overtakes Toni Polster to become their leading scorer and write his name into the history books once again soon.