POLL: Dimitri Payet- Le Snake or Le Prodigal Son?

“We have a situation with a player”

“It is Dimitri Payet”

“He wants to leave.”

Came the words from a broken Slaven Bilic during the famous press conference in wich he announced that Dimitri Payet had refused to train for West Ham, and was forcing a move back to his former club Marseille.

Not a single West Ham fan could watch that video without shedding a tear, or feeling as devastated as Slaven. And if they tell you they didn’t... they’re lying. This was the beginning of Slaven Bilic’s downfall as West Ham manager. The fairytale was over.

Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images

A few days of anger, confusion and upset, or a combination of the three ensued for West Ham fans. It wasn’t until the following match when we thrashed London-rivals Crystal Palace at our new ‘home’ 3-0, with that overhead kick from Andy Carroll that seemed to defy all kinds of physics, that we started to say “Dimitri Payet who?”.

We felt beaten, bruised and humiliated, but we weren’t just going to give up. We still had a team, and boy, did they look liberated. We played with a freedom we hadn’t seen that season, Payet’s antics clearly had a far greater impact on the team’s morale than any fan could have imagined.

Dimitri Payet was then sold back to his old club, Marseille, for £25m. Around £15m more than West Ham signed him for.

Fast forward 19 Months, 3 managerial changes, 15 players in (including loans and transfers), 19 players out, one 13th place finish and an “embarrassing” pitch invasion to protest current Chairmen David Gold and David Sullivan’s lack of ambition for the club, reports are emerging from ExWHUEmployee, TalkSPORT, Sky Sources etc., that all say one thing... (Apart from the signing of free agent Jack WIlshere)

Dimitri Payet wants to re-join West Ham United.

According to Ex, Marseille are in financial trouble again, and are required to sell players. The player’s agent has offered him to the club for more than he was sold for. Payet has apparently stated that the so-called “personal issues” between himself and the club have now been resolved. However the deal is “very unlikely” at this point. I would guess this is to do with the chairman’s mistrust of the player, seeing as how he left last time, and how the signing would go down with the fans. (It is worth pointing out at this time that social media is not a true representation of people’s feelings)

As expected, fans are divided on whether re-signing the frenchman would be a positive or a negative move for the club. Some are very pro the move, saying that the same people against Payet’s return would welcome Ravel Morrison back with open arms. But then others feel that the way he disrespected the club means that he doesn’t deserve another chance at West Ham, let alone for more money than we sold him for. For some it is a necessary evil, in which the club can’t really afford to turn down if they want to progress, having seemingly missed out on Lazio Winger Felipe Anderson. And some just simply can’t decide.

Ultimately though, it will be down to the players and the fans. According to Sam Inkersole of football.london , Pellegrini is apparently discussing the move with his players to see wether they would be okay with it. Rumours are that the players would be okay with it as they miss Manuel Lanzini, who was sidelined through injury whilst on international duty with Argentina. But at the end of the day, with such controversial signings, it has always shown to be the case that if a player is seriously not wanted by fans, then he will not be signed. The potential deal for Joey Barton that was agreed until the club pulled the plug at the last second due to his unpopularity with the fans is a prime example of this. If enough people don’t want him, he will not sign.

So, do you want him?

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