Marseille ready to bid €34.5m for West Ham wantaway Payet
John Cross of the Daily Mirror writes that the 28-year-old is being pursued by one club, and one club only, and that’s the Ligue 1 hopefuls, recently acquired by millionaire Frank McCourt.
Payet was earlier the subject of an intense press conference at West Ham, in which Coach Slaven Bilic admitted that the French international no longer wanted to play for the Hammers.
“We don't want to sell our best players but Dimitri does not want to play for us,” Bilic admitted, though he firmly stated that the East Londoners “are not going to sell him. I spoke to the Chairman and this is not a money issue. We gave him a long contract because we want him to stay”.
Marseille’s takeover from McCourt (also owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, a major baseball franchise) has given the club a financial boost, Les Phoceens suddenly being linked with a series of big names.
Their recruitment has centred on French players, or at least French-speaking players