West Ham winger Dimitri Payet is set to get his way this weekend and force through a move to Marseille.
The French international has effectively been on strike for most of this month in an effort to leave the London Stadium, but so far the Hammers have knocked back multiple bids from the Ligue 1 side.
Payet, who left Marseille to join West Ham in 2015 for £10.7m, is determined to rejoin his former club – and the feeling is mutual with the Times reporting on Saturday that they have made a final £27.2m (rising past £30m) offer to bring the 29-year-old back to Stade Vélodrome.
Manager Slaven Bilic has reportedly called on the West Ham board to accept the offer and bring the matter to a close, washing their hands of the unhappy player in the process. The club have already effectively replaced Payet by recruiting Robert Snodgrass from Hull for £10m and given the fact that Payet is unlikely to play for the club again should he stay, the best thing to do is accept what would be a substantial profit on a player after 18 months of service.
Things took a messier turn earlier in the week when Payet refused to play for the under-23 side, as his strike escalated to new levels.
Dimitri Payet is now refusing to play for the West Ham Under 23’s. [C&H] pic.twitter.com/2oWGxiKjtH
— Uber West Ham (@UberWestHam) January 27, 2017
Reports over the past few weeks have suggested that he has been frozen out by teammates disgusted by his behaviour, and any questions related to the situation have almost always been turned around to focusing on the team as a whole.
Indeed, since Payet’s self-inflicted exile West Ham’s form has actually improved, following up a 3-0 win against Crystal Palace with a 3-1 victory at Middlesbrough last weekend.
Though they will undoubtedly miss the chance creation ability that Payet brings to the side, most West Ham fans will not be sorry to see him leave at this stage. All things going as planned, he should be a Marseille player once again by the beginning of next week.
Read More About: dimitri payet, Ligue 1, marseile, marseille, Premier League, robert snodgrass, slaven bilic, transfer news, West Ham
