With Dimitri Payet now firmly in all of our rear-view mirrors, we’ve begun to move on from the shock loss of our star man in the January transfer window.
It was clear that the Frenchman was unhappy for a long time and told us all that he wanted to leave West Ham for personal reasons and that him and his family wanted to return France because they were homesick.
So, after weeks of negotiations, the 29-year-old completed a £25m return to Marseille where he’s gotten off a slow start in his second spell with the club.
In an interview with L’Equipe, it seems Payet has now revealed the true reasons behind seeking a move away from West Ham, and it’s not because he was homesick.
“I had no desire to play in the lower reaches of the Premier League,” he said.
“The defensive system that we put in place did not give me any pleasure. With a 5-4-1 in front of our box, I could have had all the freedom in the world, so it’s difficult for me to explain. You could say that I was pissed off, yes. I worked hard in every game without taking any pleasure.
“You could say I was bored. I had had contact with Marseille and most notably with [Marseille coach] Rudi Garcia, who had a philosophy that I knew well. The choice was quick. If I waited six months I would lose six months.
“With West Ham at home against Hull, we won 1-0 and they hit the post four times. In the changing room everyone was happy, but the man of the match that day was the post. I thought that I would not have room for improvement. On the contrary, I risked regressing. I needed another challenge.
“I had given them a warning that I would do it and maybe they thought I wasn’t serious. [Manager Slaven] Bilic knew that I wanted to go elsewhere. We discussed it at the start of the season when I returned from Euro 2016, but the club closed the door and I respected their choice. When a club announces that you’re worth €100m, negotiations never get far. I could have gone to war last summer. August was badly managed.
“In January, I told them I wanted to go to Marseille and nowhere else. The day they told me no, and that it was definitive, I responded to them by saying I would no longer play with West Ham.”
West Ham’s form has improved greatly in the new year as they sit comfortably in mid-table, well adrift of any relegation scrap with the team playing some positive, attacking football now their key players have returned from injury.
