Dimitri Payet returned to Marseille from West Ham United in the January transfer window.
Dimitri Payet left West Ham United in the January transfer window. The France international attacking midfielder returned to his former club Marseille in his native country.
As reported by The Guardian, Marseille had to pay West Ham a transfer fee of #25 million in order to secure the services of the 29-year-old. According to BBC Sport, the Hammers paid the French club £10.7m to sign Payet in the summer of 2015.
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West Ham vice-chairman Karren Brady has shared her opinion on the departure of Payet in her football diary in The Sun. Brady has stated that it would be unfair to say that the former Lille star had not been trying for the team this season before his move back to Ligue 1.
“Dimitri Payet would have become a legend to every Hammers supporter,” Brady wrote in her football diary in The Sun. “But he’s a dead loss instead.
“It would be unfair to say he hasn’t been trying this season but the manager knew in the weeks before Christmas that his heart wasn’t in it.
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“Once Slaven Bilic realised the damage Payet was inflicting to morale, we did the only thing that made sense. We sold him for as much as we could, to the only club who wanted to buy him.
“That was £25million to Marseille, representing 250 per cent of the original price we paid to them 18 months ago.
“On paper, good business; in reality, bad business. But other than treat a man like a naughty schoolboy — and with no legal right to force him to play — we took the only sensible option available.”
Payet scored nine goals and created 116 chances in 30 Premier League appearances for West Ham during the 2015-16 campaign. In 18 league matches for the Hammers this campaign, the Frenchman scored two goals and created 72 chances.
While the 29-year-old would be a miss for West Ham, the club have to move on and finish the season strongly.
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