Official: Dimitri Payet leaves West Ham to join Olympique Marseille

Bengaluru, Jan 30: French winger Dimitri Payet has officially left English Premier League side West Ham United to join Ligue 1 club Olympique Marseille.

The Frenchman who had joined West Ham in 2015 from Marseille has returned to his old club for £25m transfer fee after just 1.5 years.

Both West Ham United and Olympique Marseille confirmed the news on Twitter and on their official websites.

West Ham United's Tweet read:

BREAKING: Dimitri Payet has been sold to Olympique de Marseille for a fee of £25m ➡️ https://t.co/TLbpTrE32n#COYI pic.twitter.com/ywkp6Z5ULG

— West Ham United (@WestHamUtd) January 29, 2017

Olympique Marseille's Tweet read:

OFFICIAL | OM agree terms with @WestHamUtd to bring french international @dimpayet17 back to the club.#DimitriEstOlympien pic.twitter.com/fRSJNkIlML

— Olympique Marseille (@OM_English) January 29, 2017

The official West Ham United statement read:

"West Ham United have sold Dimitri Payet to Olympique de Marseille for a fee of £25m. The French midfielder has been sold after stating that he no longer wished to play for the Hammers."

Club's joint-chairman David Sullivan was quoted by the official website: "The Club would like to place on record its sincere disappointment that Dimitri Payet did not show the same commitment and respect to West Ham United that the Club and fans showed him, particularly when it rewarded him with a lucrative new five-and-half-year deal only last year.

"I would like to make it clear that we have no financial need to sell our best players and that the decision to allow Payet to leave was in accordance with the wishes of the manager and the interests of squad unity.

"To be frank, my Board and I would have preferred for him to have stayed in order to make an example of him, as no player is bigger than the club.

"I am confident that with the quality of the players we have brought in during January already, the squad will be stronger at the end of this transfer window than it was at the start.

"We now look forward to building on our recent good run of form with five league wins in the last seven matches as we focus on continuing our rise up the Premier League table."

Marseille's official statement read:

"After having met his medical requirements, Dimitri Payet, the French international, signed his contract this Sunday with the Marseille Olympique for a four and half year term.

"He will be presented during a press conference this Monday, January 30, 2017 at 2:30 p.m. at the Robert Louis-Dreyfus Center in the presence of OM President Jacques-Henri Eyraud and sports director Andoni Zubizarreta."

Earlier this month, Dimitri Payet had publicly revealed his intentions of leaving West Ham United at any cost.

West Ham United and the club manager Slaven Bilic was not at all happy with Payet's behavior who was under the club's contract for four and half years more.

Payet was dropped from the starting XI and was not allowed to train with the main team.

After a month-long saga, the club has finally decided to sell the French midfielder to Marseille.

OneIndia News