West Ham stand firm against Marseille mind games
Britain Football Soccer - West Ham United v Southampton - Premier League - London Stadium - 25/9/16 West Ham United's Dimitri Payet Reuters / Eddie Keogh Livepic EDITORIAL USE ONLY. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or "live" services. Online in-match use limited to 45 images, no video emulation. No use in betting, games or single club/league/player publications. Please contact your account representative for further details.
Marseille have upped their efforts to get a cut price deal for Dimitri Payet by leaking claims that they have agreed personal terms with the 29-year-old.
According to a report in The Express a number of French news outlets are claiming that the midfielder has agreed the terms of a four year contract to go back to his old club.
That is all well and good but without agreement with West Ham any other aspect of the deal is worthless.
West Ham have long suspected that the entire saga has been orchestrated from France in an effort to get Payet back to France for less than the £30m asking price.
With just one buyer showing interest in the midfielder West Ham have reluctantly had to sit tight and not react as the media is used to try and drive the price down.
West Ham paid Marseille £11m for Payet 18 months ago, after giving the player a new contract last February worth £125,000/week they are unwilling to get involved in a public auction driven by the agenda of Marseille.