Making it very clear he has no intention of playing for West Ham ever again, Dimitri Payet was left out of the 3-0 win over Crystal Palace, and the Hammers coped quite well without him.
With reports from France that meetings are taking place on Monday between Marseille and the Premier League club, talks of a possible €40m transfer are growing stronger by the day.
While a lot of Marseille fans are very excited by the prospect of seeing their former star return to the Stade Vélodrome, one man feels the whole thing is just plain ridiculous.
That man is former France manager Raymond Domenech, now a consultant for Europe 1.
He said: “It’s an aberration. As a recruiting strategy, it doesn’t make sense. Marseille are fighting to reinforce an area where they already have a lot of players. Their weak points aren’t up front, but uniquely in defence. With €40m, you can get one or two defenders.”
Currently having to field former Manchester City defender Karim Rekik at left-back, as well as 35-year-old Rod Fanni in defence, spending the money somewhere other than on Dimitri Payet makes a lot of sense.
Signing the attacking midfielder from West Ham for €40m wouldn’t really be a statement of intent from Marseille, it would simply show everyone how desperate the French club are to be relevant again without thinking things through.
