Calciomercato.com

Revealed: How Payet move to Marseille nearly fell through

Revealed: How Payet move to Marseille nearly fell through

Though Dimitri Payet is all but a Marseille player, West Ham are far from forgiving the 29-year-old for leaving them, according to the Standard.

With the former Lille star undergoing his medical with Marseille tomorrow and with the Ligue 1 side’s 30 million offer accepted by the Hammers, the deal was still being stalled yesterday.

Why? Because West Ham wanted the French international to give back the £500.000 salary he earned in January, despite refusing to play for the club.

Payet cited family concerns and homesickness as reasons for his departure, but West Ham were adamant that no transfer would be approved if he didn’t agree to give back his salary.  

A club source told the Standard that Payet had no choice if he wanted to move back to Ligue 1, the salary issue being considered a “deal breaker”.

West Ham have also fired a broadside at Payet through co-chairman David Sullivan, claiming that Payet had to be axed in order not to divide the squad, which had already excluded the 29-year-old from its whatsapp group.

“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 new five-and-half-year deal only last year,” Sullivan said in an official statement,” to be frank, my board and I would have preferred for him to have stayed in order to make an example of him, as no player is bigger than the club.