Striking Payet is keeping distance
DIMITRI PAYET is almost certain to be absent from the London Stadium as West Ham host Crystal Palace today, after refusing ever to play for the club again.
Slaven Bilic is wary of his West Ham squad being unsettled by the shock news of their star player’s attempts to force a January transfer move.
West Ham maintain the 29-yearold will not be sold for any price this month, but reports in France yesterday claimed Payet has already agreed personal terms with his former club Marseille.
French sports newspaper L’Equipe claimed the player has spoken to Marseille president Jacques Henri Eyraud several times and has had ‘multiple’ conversations with manager Rudi Garcia.
In an interview with French broadcasterer RTL, Garcia is quotedd as saying: ‘I would take him every day of the week.’
Bilic has already accused rival clubs of ‘ tapping up’ Payet, while Marseille midfielderr William Vainqueurr said: ‘All the players are dreaming of a Payetayet return. It wouldd be extraordinary.’
West Ham’s first team trained at the London Stadium yesterday and Payet was absent again.
They held a team meeting — as is normal before a match — but Bilic also used it to provide an update for his players.
Sportsmail has been told that some of those in West Ham’s dressing room had noticed a change in Payet’s attitude this season and found it frustrating.
The France midfielder is the best-paid player in the history of the club on £125,000 per week but there is a sense behind the scenes that he had been indulged for too long. West Ham are not expecting him to turn up to watch their
game aagainst Crystal Palace today,to nor have they made any plans for him to be there. It is also likely that West Ham’s players found out about Payet’s stand-off with the club via social media on Thursday before being addressed by their manager.
Bilic met with Payet on Tuesday and it was then that the Frenchman made clear to his manager he wanted a transfer.
West Ham’s boss gave the players Wednesday off and hoped his best player would come to his senses.
On Thursday, immediately before his pre-match press conference, Bilic spoke to Payet and gave him the chance to change his mind. Payet stood by what he had said and so Bilic took the decision to make it public when he spoke to the press. The manager told his squad the news later that morning before they began training.
Writing in his column for the London Evening Standard yesterday, Bilic said: ‘This situation with Dimitri has been developing for a little while now.
‘The right thing to do then was to tell the supporters and the players what was happening.
‘It has left me sad, angry, but at the moment Dimitri has said he will not play for the club, so I have no alternative but to plan for Saturday’s match without him.
‘He will not train with the rest of the squad and the club’s position remains consistent, which is that he is not for sale.’
Marseille are the front-runners with the French side bankrolled by US billionaire Frank McCourt, who has pledged to pump money into the club for the next two transfer windows.
Having handed Payet a new contract in February and given him a signing-on fee of £1million in September, West Ham feel that Payet should be showing some loyalty to the club.
Bilic added: ‘It would be much, much better if this had not happened and that he had remained committed to West Ham, but that is not the case, so life goes on.’