Watching Dimitri Payet at the Euro’s is quite incredible. His sheer elegance on and off the ball, the way he dances through defenders and his eye for goal is what will surely earn him the prestigious player of the tournament and has given many comparisons to other world class playmakers such as Mesut Özil and, to an extent, Zinedine Zidane. What makes it even more spectacular is that he plays for West Ham. Yep that’s right. Little old West Ham.
When you think of the players West Ham have signed for big money over the past couple of years (Matt Jarvis, Enner Valencia, Savio Nsereko) there seems to be a trend. A lot of people come from abroad and don’t work out. Even this season, people such as Memphis Depay and Florian Thauvin have signed for big money from abroad and have flopped. So when Dimitri Payet, people who had never seen him play (myself included) were reluctant at first.
But Payet has taken the league by storm, making the PFA Team Of The Season and being on the shortlist for PFA Player Of The Year. This good form led to a recall to the France team for Euro 2016, where they are the favourites. And as you know, he has been the standout player at the tournament, completely tearing Romanian and Albanian defences apart, scoring sublime goals against both.
With great tournament success comes great speculation and genuine interest. International tournaments greatly inflate the prices of certain players and Payet will be no difference. He was signed for little over £10million, and now it is common knowledge that the club will not sell for little under £60million.
But would selling him be a good idea? West Ham are a club who are trying to make a name for themselves and push through the glass ceiling into the top end of the league, so is it a good idea to become a selling club?
In the past three years, there have been two examples of Premier League teams with that one world class player who got taken away for big money: Spurs with Gareth Bale and Liverpool with Luis Suarez. Both sides spent their increased budgets with big transfers, but for every Christian Eriksen, there was a Chiriches, Soldado and Stambouli and for every Emre Can, there was a Balotelli, Lovren and Markovic. So if we sold Payet, history could repeat itself and we would sign a load of dross.
This takes me back to the prospects of West Ham. We are moving into a new, 60,000 seater stadium, and who better to lead is there than one of the best players in the world at the moment?
Not to mention the fact we don’t want a reputation as a selling club. Once that happens, it will stick. Take Southampton: Every transfer window, they seem like the target men because their players want to be ambitious and join the “big boys”. Even their managers get poached. Keeping Payet would send out a message to the so-called ‘big clubs’ by saying “we will not sell our stars”. This would prove vital in the long run.
I haven’t even mentioned the fans love for him. I have supported West Ham for 12 years and I never saw Di Canio play, so the closest the fans love has got for Payet that I have seen would be Carlos Tevez who, unlike Payet, only did well for ten games and couldn’t really be arsed about the club. Dimitri even admitted himself that when the fans started the chant (which is the most annoying chant ever) on his return from injury against Liverpool, he got close to crying. The club means everything to Payet, who signalled his love for us by signing a five-year contract, which he has used in interviews to show that he is staying.
The issue is, we might not be able to hold on to him. Real Madrid are circling him like a shark, and if Zinedine Zidane, his idol, came in for him, I would not put it against Payet to become the latest Galactico. But for now, if anyone offers anything below about £60million, I would tell them to keep their money. Payet is a rare gem, and it would be pivotal for our season and our future to hold on to him. If that means we have to continue that earworm of a chant to the tune of Billy Ray Cyrus’ 1992 hit Achy Breaky Heart, then that is a sacrifice I am willing to take.
YouTube: Billy Ray Cyrus – Achy Breaky Heart
