Better than Zidane? I don’t think so!
As a boy he was lost in France but Payet is 90 minutes from Wembley after achieving cult hero status at West Ham
IT IS not just West Ham who are lucky to have Dmitri Payet. The Premier League and the football world in general have a certain Alain Payet to thank that we are enjoying his phenomenal season.
Were it not for his father, Dmitri might still be playing in front of 3,000 fans on the small Indian Ocean island of Reunion, which is home.
That is where he returned at the age of 16 after an unsuccessful four years at Le Havre, in France, where he had gone as a schoolboy to fulfil his dream of becoming a professional footballer.
Too small, they said; not good enough for the French second division, they said. So the man vying with Riyad Mahrez to be the Premier League’s player of the season; the man propelling West Ham towards Champions League qualification and the man who will be the best player on the pitch in the FA Cup quarter-final at Old Trafford at Manchester United today, was ready to give up on his dream.
When Nantes offered him a second chance Payet, then 18, wanted to turn it down. ‘I thought the dream was over,’ he said.
‘I didn’t even want to hear talk about me ever going back to France. I was quite traumatised by the experience and the decision by Le Havre not to keep me. I felt I hadn’t been seen in my best light. So when a second chance came along I argued about it with my dad and my uncle, Jean-Marc and they convinced that I should try my luck again. And they were right.
‘But I didn’t want to. I had spent four years at Le Havre and when they told me they weren’t keeping me because I wasn’t good for the second division, that hit me hard. That’s why I didn’t want to hear any further mention of France.
‘When I had returned from Le Havre my family did everything to make me feel good. They said “OK, it didn’t work out but at least you gave it a go.”
‘They said I was more than welcome to stay at home if I wanted to. When Nantes offered to bring me back to France, I accepted for my dad, in particular, because football is his passion and he never got the opportunity to go beyond Reunion. I took on the challenge mainly for him and having that idea in my head helped me stay strong in Nantes. Without that conversation I wouldn’t be here now, so I can never thank him enough for that.
‘I just wanted to stay on my island and play football there. After Le Havre, I became the youngest player in the first division in Reunion. I made my debut at 16. I played a season in the top-flight there and that’s how I got spotted by Nantes.
‘I’m not blaming Le Havre. Back then I wasn’t an easy person to handle. I was always one of the first to mess around. So there were a lot of reasons why my adventure stopped at that point.
‘It’s also true that I was small and not particularly strong at Le Havre. I think the season I had playing as a kid against men in Reunion toughened me up a lot and taught me, basically, how to cope with hits. So I was ready to go back after a year.’
It is still extraordinary that a player of Payet’s talent could have so easily missed his chance. Last season he shone for Marseille, having previously been at Nantes and Lille, where he played with Joe Cole. Still, £10.7million was a lot for West Ham to spend on a 28-year-old player who had had clashes with team-mates such as Fabien Barthez and Blaise Matuidi.
Now he is heralded as the club’s finest player since Carlos Tevez and the fans have a song which hails him as ‘better than Zidane’.
‘That might be the fans’ opinion, but as someone who has seen Zidane play many times, I wouldn’t say I’m better than him!’ says Payet.
His skills were honed watching his father play for Saint Philippe on Reunion, a French dependency with a population of just 850,000.
‘I started when I was five or six years old in my local club, Saint Philippe. Then I moved to Saint Pierreoise, one of the biggest and best clubs on the island for rearing young players. On Reunion, we’re usually described as being quite chilled. Obviously we have the beaches and enjoy spending time in the sun but beyond that we also have quite a strong character and when we want something we’re willing to find a way to achieve it.
‘When I was very young I used to go and watch my dad play with his friends near where we lived and I would often just kick a ball about the pitch. That’s where my passion began.
‘Initially I was really attracted by the Spanish league. That was a league where all the clubs had a fluid game, playing their way forward from the back. As time went by I got more interested in watching the Premier League, as some of the teams there played that way too. When I arrived here I saw that Slaven Bilic’s aim wasn’t to just kick the ball away but to try to play a possession-based football style and that was very important.
‘Ronaldinho was my favourite player. People say he enjoyed humiliating defenders but he was always efficient. The reason I’m a fan is because he was able to put on a show while remaining effective and helping his team to win.
‘I still try to treat football as a game, even if there are now other considerations at stake, especially economic ones. I try to put on a show while being effective because the spectators come to be entertained by beautiful play.’
Economic factors, or more prosaically, cash, are clearly a factor; Payer recently signed a new deal worth £125,000 a week to reflect his
new status. However, he had offers worth double to join Shanghai Shenhua but turned it down.
‘It wasn’t a difficult decision at all. If I was four or five years older I might have considered it but I still think I have some great years ahead of me and am eager to keep improving and keep pushing West Ham higher. It’s a little too early for me to go to China.’
Now there is an FA Cup quarter final on which to focus against an ailing Manchester United and the end of the season could still bring a top-four finish for West Ham as they move to the Olympic Stadium.
Euro 2016, however, seems unlikely. Though he has 15 caps, his last game for France was in June and he has since dropped out of the squad. Didier Deschamps, the France manager, seems to think he can do without him but he remains phlegmatic.
‘I’ve worked very hard to get where I am now. I know what it’s like to miss out on a World Cup. If I make it into the Euro squad I’ll be delighted but if I don’t, I won’t have any regrets because I know I gave it my best shot.’