West Ham United attacking midfielder Dimitri Payet has not been in great form so far this season.
Former Liverpool and Rangers midfielder Graeme Souness has criticised West Ham United attacking midfielder Dimitri Payet in The Times.
Souness has claimed that Payet is not the player he was last season, and has suggested that his West Ham teammates may not be happy with his contract situation.
The 29-year-old France international joined the Hammers from Ligue 1 outfit Marseille in the summer of 2015.
After an explosive start to life in the Premier League, Payet signed a new deal with the London club in February 2016 until 2021, as reported by BBC Sport.
“People talk about him being involved at the Euros,” Souness wrote about Payet in The Times. “Big deal. It’s now nearly December and he’s not been the same player since the start of the season, when he was out with a thigh injury.
“He only signed for West Ham last summer and then by Christmas was talking about another contract.
“If I’m a teammate in that dressing-room and after six months he’s sitting on a fat, new contract and humming and hawing if he wants to stay, that would make me very unhappy. It’s a difficult situation to manage.”
Payet was West Ham’s best player last season, and scored nine goals and created 116 chances in 30 Premier League appearances.
So far this campaign, the France international attacking midfielder has scored one goal and created 43 chances in 10 league matches.
The 29-year-old is not exactly playing badly at the moment, but given that he is West Ham’s talisman and key player, he should be doing more.
West Ham are 17th in the Premier League table at the moment with just 11 points from 12 matches.
Slaven Bilic’s side are a point above the relegation zone and are in real danger of getting relegated to the Championship at the end of the season.
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