In lieu of Dimitri Payet’s arrival from Marseille, we were fortunate enough to speak with French football journalist Julien Laurens, who’s worked with Le Parisien, BT Sport and ESPN, about the 28-year-old French attacker.
Where does Payet normally operate on the pitch?
For a long time, he has been playing on the wings, as an offensive midfielder. But last season, Marcelo Bielsa played him in the number 10 role, just behind the striker and Payet had the best season of his career with 16 league assists and 7 league goals. This is his best position.
What is his style of play – what does he like to do with possession?
He is a very technically gifted player. He has a lot of skills, great vision, great touch as well. He is comfortable on transition but also in possession. He can really adapt. He is very good at taking set pieces too. He improved a lot tactically under Bielsa last season and is confidence is at its pick after the season he had.
Looking at his goals & assists last season, are they a good representation of his ability, or are they misleading?
No they are a good representation of his ability. It was his first proper season in his favourite number 10 position and he really was great. It felt like he was finally making the most of his talent. Until last season, we knew he had talent but he was not really delivering. Now, he did and he need to sustain that form. Where he has to improve though is to be decisive in big games, key games which he has struggled to do in the past.
How do you think he will adapt to the Premier League?
I think the pace of the Premier League suits him. He will like the rhythm l, the spaces, the quality. The physicality won’t be a problem I think. So I think he will adapt well. The biggest thing though is that West Ham have to play on his strengths, which you would think they will. If you start holding long balls, he will be useless. If you give him the ball and he has a lot of movement around him, he will make differences.
At 28, does a reported £10.8m deal for Payet represent value for money for West Ham?
The fee is good. He is at his peak and Marseille paid €9m for him two seasons ago. The wages are big though. It’s a very long contract from what I was told (5 years + 1) with a lot of bonuses (10k per game played being one of them). So he will be costly and he needs to fulfil expectations over the money the club is investing and over his status.
