Receiving £25m from Marseille from the sale of Dimitri Payet, West Ham have since released a statement expressing their views and are now allowing fans to swap their “Payet 27” shirts for a ‘small fee’ of £25.
The player, now officially back at his former club, was presented on Monday afternoon to the press in a conference alongside the club’s president and director of football, where, of course, questions were asked about his time at West Ham.
Explaining he was ‘very happy’ to return to a club he knew well, the attacking midfielder was also keen to thank everyone who helped the deal happen, mentioning plenty of Marseille staff, yet didn’t include anyone from West Ham.
As for why he decided to leave West Ham, Payet said: “My choice was made very clear from the start. I wanted to be a part of this project. It came at a moment in my career when I missed Ligue 1 and France. January was a long month. We’re the 30th and I started my tussle a long time ago.
Clearly disillusioned at West Ham’s poor start to the season when the club fighting for European spots throughout the 2015-16 campaign, Payet refused to be drawn into explaining what went on at West Ham over the past month, including what was said between himself and Slaven Bilic, but promised to be more candid in the future.
He said: “I don’t have to justify my behaviour. Bilic has his opinion. We talked a lot. I know what I said. From this point onwards, I don’t want to talk about it more. What happened previously, I’ll speak about it. Not now, but I’ll talk about it when the time is right.”
We look forward to that interview when the times comes, but for now, West Ham fans will have to make do with this rather obscure explanation.
Also, just in case you thought everything went his way, Payet did manage to somewhat embarrass himself during his presentation when asked whether he was fit to play against Lyon on Tuesday.
The player answered “Oui, je suis prêt à chier” (Yes, I’m ready to sh*t) instead of “Oui, je suis prêt à jouer” (Yes, I’m ready to play).
magnifique lapsus pic.twitter.com/eANdy2MInD
— Philippe (@philousports) January 30, 2017
We’re all human, after all. A little chuckle for West Ham fans.
