The Dance Begins Over Payet Transfer Fee

It was obvious from the outset that there would be plenty of posturing from all parties once West Ham star Dimitri Payet decided to throw his dummy out the pram, co-owners David Sullivan and David Gold along with manager Slaven Billic were quick to act like fans and say Payet is not for sale. However Lady Brady remained rather quiet on the issue, eventually admitting Payet would probably be sold sooner than later, confining her other comments to twitter satire with her “Michail Antonio was in bed with flu yesterday, got out of bed, pulled on his shirt & played magnificently – that’s dedication for you,” tweet.
Now the dust has settled a bit, and following on from a stonking morale boosting victory over London rivals Crystal Palace, the reality of the situation is that Hammers have to sell their french International star in more ways than one. The club is simply not wealthy enough to leave a £30 Million rated player on £120,000 per week rotting in the reserves, secondly the squad morale could be seriously effected if a 'spoiled brat' seems to be pulling all the strings. Some might say Payet will have won, but so what, he came , he played and did what it said on the tin, he owes West Ham litttle more than a thank you for helping to put him of the football map, a service for which the club will benefit to the tune of £10-30 Million in profit! Marseille president Jacques-Henri Eyraud is flying into London on Monday to try and persuade Hammers to sell Payet back to them, a bid of just under £20million plus £2.5million should Marseille qualify for the Champions League, has already been rejected. West Ham have continuously stated that Payet is not for sale, but if an offer closer to their valuation of £40million is made for the French international he is expected to leave before the January window closes. Co-chairman David Sullivan met with Payet’s agent Jacques-Olivier Auguste on Friday with the club again offering to allow the 29 year old to leave this summer if he will see through the rest of the campaign,
however Payet, who is claiming he is suffering from a back injury, is insisting he wants to go this month and largely for personal reasons, his partner has returned to Marseille with the couple’s children, it is understood not to return to these shores.
The anger over what is widely seen as Payet’s betrayal of the club who transformed him into an international star but who have been in desperate need of his magical ways in recent weeks is widespread, pictures and videos circulated of some fans wiping their feet on a Payet shirt as they entered the stadium while others changed the wording of his former song into an expletive filled rant.
Andy Carroll, Mikael Antonio, Manu Lanzini and the rest of the team rose to the occasion on Saturday to prove there can be life after Payet, in fact his absence may remove the stifling effect he had on others creativity due to his brilliance!
Where they once they sang Payet’s name, the home supporters were singing "Super Slave Billic". The King is dead, long live the King. - Ed