The ManicaPost
DIMITRI Payet is no longer a West Ham player – and their fans can’t wait to get him off their backs.
The playmaker leaves the Hammers under a cloud after his £25 million back to France, having refused to play for the club in order to force a move before the window shuts on Tuesday.
West Ham fans who bought shirts bearing Payet’s name under the assumption he’d stay put after he signed a new contract until 2021 have complained that their £60 purchases are now redundant.
However, club CEO Karren Brady has moved to try and appease fans by offering an exchange at club shops.
She tweeted in response to one fan who had complained about his Payet shirt: “Morning, bring back your Payet shirt to any of the club shops & you will get a new replacement for £25, full details on WHU web site.”
West Ham announced that they’d agreed a £25 million fee with Marseille on Sunday, while images have emerged of the 29-year-old arriving in France and undergoing his medical.
In a joint-statement, West Ham owners David Gold and David Sullivan said: “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-a-half-year deal only last year.
“I would like to make it clear that we have no financial need to sell our best players and that the decision to allow Payet to leave was in accordance with the wishes of the manager and the interests of squad unity.
“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.
“I am confident that with the quality of the players we have brought in during January already, the squad will be stronger at the end of this transfer window than it was at the start.”
He is set to be unveiled today and could even be in Marseille’s squad for their cup game against Lyon on Tuesday.
West Ham have already moved to replace some of the firepower lost by losing Payet having signed Hull’s Robert Snodgrass for around £10 million. – DAILY MAIL SPORT
