Breaking news this morning is that Dimitri Payet looks as if he’s played his last game for West Ham. This is what Slaven Bilic told reporters at his press conference this morning…
“We have said we don’t want to sell our best players but Payet does not want to play for us. He wants to leave. We are not going to sell him. This team, the staff, we gave him everything, we were always there for him. I feel let down. I feel angry.”
And there was me thinking that Payet was different. That he really bought into the West Ham project. That he wasn’t a mercenary. How naive of me. I have a feeling of utter dejection and being completely let down by someone who had become something of a hero to us.
We never really HAD Payet, after all, did we?
UPDATE: The more I think about this, the angrier it makes me, but let’s be realistic, there’s no point in Bilic saying he won’t be sold, because when a player effectively goes on strike, there’s only ever one outcome. He leaves. We should say to him: “OK, we’ve given you everything you’ve ever asked for, and you’ve now shat on us big style. You can go, but if no club meets the asking price, you’re staying whether you like it or not. And if you don’t put every effort into it, you can whistle for your salary.”
I’d suggest that £35 million should be the minimum asking price. it is rumoured Marseilles want him back. We paid £11 million for him, so it’s unlikely they would pay £35 million. In which case, OK. Let’s see if anyone pay that for him. If not, tell him to play or rot in the reserves.