Considering how much of a ruckus the original news of Dimitri Payet refusing to play for West Ham made, it’s all been rather quiet recently.
The French attacking midfielder was made to train with the club’s U23s this week, and while Marseille have made two different bids, the Hammers are having none of it and refused both, deeming them unacceptable.
Valuing the player highly considering all he’s done for them and France over the past season or so, West Ham are hoping to hold out January without having to sell him, to what avail, we don’t know yet.
Maybe they hope to use him later on in the season once he’s apologised, or they’re just trying to teach him a lesson, yet SFR Sport in France claim something entirely different.
One of the TV station’s journalists, Johnny Séverin, tweeted on Friday that it was ‘inevitable’ that Payet would be leaving West Ham in January, and that it was ‘impossible’ for him to wear the West Ham shirt in the future.
HIER, selon source proche de WH, les dirigeants de @WestHamUtd considéraient le départ de @dimpayet17 comme “inéluctable” @SFR_Sport #TeamOM
— Johnny Séverin (@jseverin11) January 20, 2017
Hier, pour les dirigeants de WH, il était devenu “impossible” que @dimpayet17 puisse reporter le maillot de @WestHamUtd. @SFR_Sport
— Johnny Séverin (@jseverin11) January 20, 2017
If that wasn’t enough, L’Equipe reported half an hour later that Marseille have made a third bid for their former star worth €30m, which is edging ever closer to the €35m Slaven Bilic and co. are asking for.
The English press had earlier on in the day claimed Marseille had abandoned their chase in Dimitri Payet, but by the looks of things, they really haven’t.