West Ham fans offered deal to get Payet off their backs

LONDON: After selling Dimitri Payet to Marseille for £25mil (RM138mil), West Ham are offering fans a cut-price deal to get the French forward off their backs as well.

“Bring back your Payet shirt to any of the club shops & you will get a new replacement for £25 (RM138),” the English Premier League club’s vice-chairman Karen Brady said on Twitter on Monday in response to a query.

Basic short-sleeved 2016-17 West Ham team shirts without a player’s name on the back usually retail at £55 (RM304) each but are currently reduced to £36.66 (RM202) in a sale at the club’s online store.

French international Payet, who stood out for the host nation at Euro 2016, had become a fan favourite at the Hammers after he joined from Marseille in 2015.

The relationship broke down when he told the East Londoners he no longer wanted to play for them and sought a return to Marseille in the current transfer window.

West Ham co-chairman David Sullivan said later on Monday that Payet’s team-mates wanted the Frenchman to leave.

“As much as we (the club’s owners) didn’t want him out, you can’t go against the consensus of the team,” Sullivan told the BBC, adding that Payet sacrificed his wages for January.

“He’s not been talking to anyone in the squad.

He’s been sitting in the corner of the room for his meals and he’s isolated himself.

“Before that he was bubbly, happy, shaking everyone’s hand before the match.

“Either it was a tactic or something in his head had changed.

“The team wanted him out, the manager (Slaven Bilic) – with great reluctance – wanted him out. We think it’s bonded the team better together.”

After a difficult start to the season, West Ham have won their last two English Premier League games and are in 10th place. — Reuters