Dimitri Payet has reportedly told West Ham United that he wants to leave the London Stadium.
Mark Noble has shed some light on what Dimitri Payet’s relationship is currently like with the West Ham squad by suggesting that he has not spoken to the Frenchman for up to three weeks, the Daily Mirror reports.
The Mirror reports that the 29-year-old has told Slaven Bilic that he no longer wants to play for the Hammers and now hopes to return to former club Marseille.
West Ham’s Dimitri Payet
Unsurprisingly, Payet did not feature in the club’s win over Crystal Palace at the weekend, and Noble has now hinted that his relationship with his teammates has almost completely broken down recently.
“I have always said that he is up there with one of the best players I have ever played with and I had – and I say had because I haven’t really spoken to him for the last two or three weeks – a great relationship with him,” he said, as reported by the Mirror.
“I don’t know his reasons and am not going to comment on why he wanted to leave, but I do know that if someone doesn’t want to play for the team then he’s better off not even playing.”
West Ham United’s Dimitri Payet celebrates scoring their first goal with Mark Noble
Although the playmaker is one of the most talented players that the Irons have had for several years, and Bilic may have been tempted to try and keep him around in the hope that he changes his mind, Noble’s suggestion that he has not spoken to the talisman for a few weeks suggests that it could be somewhat harmful not to sell him.
His presence within the squad could be detrimental to the team morale, and they proved with their 3-0 win over Palace that they can do more than simply survive without Payet, especially if they receive a significant amount of funds from letting him go that they could potentially reinvest in the squad.
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