Dimitri Payet is ready to go to war with West Ham as he is desperate for a return to Marseille
Frenchman wants to leave the club and his former employers Marseille have had a £20m bid rejected
DIMITRI PAYET is ready to go to war with West Ham to force a move back to Marseille.
These are the details that will shock Hammers fans:
Payet’s has:
- told the club he will NEVER play for them again.
- Not been speaking to his team-mates since early December
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- Convinced senior figures that he’s only behaving like this so he can force a move out.
- Demanded a move or an even bigger deal since last summer
SunSport can also reveal Payet was left on the bench in the FA Cup match against Manchester City because he was “not right in the head”.
He had already demanded a move. Payet came on as sub last week and people thought Bilic wanted to rest him.
But Payet has demanded a move away since last SUMMER when he reported back from Euro 2016 and has been going through the motions after West Ham’s top brass refused to sell him.
He started pre-season wanting a move to a bigger club or an even bigger pay rise.
That was just six months after he was handed a double-your-money £120k a week, five-and-a-half year deal just five months after coming to West Ham.
Now the French primadonna has threatened to sit it out till the end of the season. He is refusing to play for the Hammers in what fans are certain to see as the ultimate betrayal.
Payet has not been speaking to his teammates since the start of December.
As a dressing room source said: “We all know when a player behaves like that it’s to force a move.”
He clearly wants to be seen as a disruptive influence and does not care that West Ham are in a relegation dogfight.
Several West Ham stars have complained to staff about his behaviour.
Last year he was the life and soul of the party, performing brilliantly and getting on superbly with all of West Ham’s senior players.
This year he has become a liability in the dressing room upsetting everyone within the team with his behaviour. He only says hello to one or two of his team-mates.
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He’s withdrawn and snubs everyone. Payet’s crass attitude is affecting team spirit.
Payet has been bang-average all season after going into pre-season without any motivation to play for West Ham. His mind was not right and boss Slaven Bilic did all he could to get him to refocus.
But West Ham’s season started with the club’s top player “not right in the head”.
It explains a lot about the dip in his performances this season.
Which in turn explains at least partly the dip in West Ham’s performances which are also in sharp contrast to last season.
Senior figures at West Ham are furious. They feel Payet has shown crass disregard to a club that has taken him from the scrapheap and put him back on the map. Worse, that he has betrayed the fans who have idolised him since he arrived.
The top brass feel that when he came from Marseille for just £11m Payet was essentially finished at the top level.
But thanks to West Ham he regained his place in the French squad and at the age of 29.
Senior Hammers figures believe the club gave him the platform to showcase his talent and put their faith in him when Marseille flogged him off as quickly as they could.
They gave him the highest salary in the history of the club only six months after he arrived, in a new five-and-a-half year deal that staved off interest from Chelsea, Manchester City and Manchester United 12 months ago.
But Payet’s behaviour is deemed unacceptable at the club. Karren Brady and chairman David Sullivan have jointly decided they will hold firm and not sell the wantaway whinger.
Sources in France suggested Marseille’s technical director Andoni Zubizarreta has been trying to get West Ham to sell for weeks.
But West Ham’s top brass have told Marseille he is simply NOT going to be sold and that they are wasting their time.