Payet gets his wish, leaves West Ham for Marseille in £25M deal
Dimitri Payet is back at Olympique de Marseille, no longer capable of hearing the pitchforks and torches on the other side of the English Channel.
On Sunday, West Ham United announced the sale of Payet to Marseille for a fee of £25 million (approximately €29 million), bringing an end to an ugly saga that started when Slaven Bilic confirmed that the French attacking midfielder no longer wanted to pull on the Hammers' shirt.
Welcome back 🏠!#DimitriEstOlympien pic.twitter.com/1nSvEkwthS
— Olympique Marseille (@OM_English) January 29, 2017
David Sullivan, West Ham's joint-chairman, hit out at Payet on the Hammers' official website, saying: "The club would like to place on record its sincere disappointment that Dimitri Payet did not show the same commitment and respect to West Ham United that the club and fans showed him, particularly when it rewarded him with a lucrative five-and-half-year deal only last year.
"I am confident that with the quality of the players we have brought in during January already, the squad will be stronger at the end of this transfer window than it was at the start."
Over two weeks ago, Bilic announced what felt inevitable, saying Payet wanted to leave West Ham during the January transfer window. The Croatian manager said he felt "angry" and "let down" by the decision, and also made it clear the Hammers would refuse to sell. According to the Guardian's David Hytner, the club eventually realised the player's position was untenable and wanted at least £30 million (approximately €35 million), and Marseille opened up the bidding at £19 million (approximately €22 million).
In other words, Payet's £25-million price tag was roughly a compromise of what West Ham and Marseille were initially looking for.
Payet, who published a photo of a plane earlier on Sunday, is abandoning the 2016-17 Premier League with two goals and six assists to his name through 18 appearances. Although he experienced a significant dip in form, he was still the Hammers' most threatening player in the first half of the season. However, the club is showing it can survive without the product of AS Excelsior, winning its two league fixture after he effectively went on strike.