Dimtri Payet transfer: West Ham co-owner David Gold admits £45m-rated ace could leave for Real Madrid or Barcelona
Gold says the Hammers will fight to keep hold of their man, who has been one of the standout performers at Euro 2016
DAVID GOLD will fight to keep Dimitri Payet at West Ham — but admits they could struggle to stop him joining Real Madrid or Barcelona.
The £45million-rated Hammers maestro, 29, has been one of the stars of Euro 2016 and the Spanish giants, along with Chelsea and Inter Milan, are weighing up bids.
But West Ham co-owner Gold said Payet — who is in the France team to face Iceland tomorrow night in Paris — is an integral part of manager Slaven Bilic’s plans for next season.
He said: “We’ll fight tooth and nail to make sure Dimitri pulls on a claret and blue shirt next season.
“We want to improve our squad and Dimitri is an integral part of what we’re trying to do. But we also must be realistic. If Barcelona or Real Madrid made a bid and he wanted to move there, it would be difficult to keep him.
“You can’t have a great player like Dimitri and expect no one to make a bid, especially with the performances he’s producing at the Euros.
“But the phone has not rung yet — although we know there’s a chance it will once the tournament is over. We’re not silly. Yet, let me be very clear, we would not welcome a call.
“The club certainly doesn’t need to sell him so this is not a case of ‘We’ve bought him for £10m and can now make a tidy profit’.”
Despite the fears, Payet’s adviser Jacques-Olivier Auguste reckons his man is happy to stay in East London.
West Ham have been a selling club in the past and lost a golden generation when they flogged Frank Lampard, Rio Ferdinand, Joe Cole, Michael Carrick and Jermain Defoe.
But Gold insisted those days are over.
The Hammers lost out on Marseille’s Belgium striker Michy Batshuayi after Chelsea agreed a £30m deal this week.
And Gold said that, despite the setback, the club is still hunting big name signings — bigger than ever before.
He added: “We’re desperate to bring in quality players.
“The old West Ham used to compete with teams like Burnley and West Brom for players, which gave us a better chance of signing our targets.
“Nowadays we are competing with Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester United or Manchester City. For them, resources are virtually unlimited.
“But in the real world at West Ham, you’ve got two English owners who pay their taxes, without the resources of those other clubs.
“We’re not a club yet that can compete on that scale with them.
“But we’re no longer a selling club, we’re a spending club and investing in our future.”
The Hammers’ move into the Olympic Stadium after a great season has put them on the fringes of becoming one of the country’s top six clubs.
And Gold added: “The gap is shrinking between us and them. Big fish eat little fish.
“West Ham have been a little fish for too long.
“The only way to stop being eaten is to become a big fish — that’s what we’re trying to do.”