West Ham midfielder Dimitri Payet has reportedly told West Ham manager Slaven Bilic that he wants out of the Hammers set up and a move to Arsenal could be on the cards!
West Ham manager Slaven Bilic has today revealed to the press that he has a major transfer situation on his hands at West Ham and it’s one that involves last season’s player of the year contender, Dimitri Payet. Bilic stated: “I’ve got something for you. I have a situation with a player. It is Dimitri Payet. He wants to leave. We do not want to sell him. We have said hundreds of times that we do not want to sell our best players. We want to keep them.”
Payet has supposedly told his boss that he’s no longer happy in the east end of London, just 18 months after making a move to the Premier League from Ligue 1 side Marseille. Payet had an outstanding season with the Hammers last year and was named as a contender for POTY, just to show the impact he had made in the Premier League. However this season he hasn’t managed to hit the same heights and with West Ham struggling since the big move to the new stadium, Payet has supposedly told Bilic he doesn’t wish to play for the Hammers again and is demanding a transfer this January.
Payet has in the past spoken about his admiration for Arsenal and has never ruled out a transfer to North London. Wenger is also supposedly a keen fan of Payet’s and I’m sure Le Prof would be interested if West Ham were open to selling the player, even if it goes against their initial wishes.
Despite the crazy money that’s been thrown around in the transfer window nowadays, I don’t think West Ham could demand too much of a fee considering his age and that he wants out. So I’d say a bid of no more than £20 million would likely suffice from Arsenal, but would Bilic take the offer?
I also have several concerns about Payet to Arsenal, one of which is that Payet doesn’t exactly have age on his side. At 29 years old, of course he still has a number years ahead of him at the top flight, but we are looking at a player here that would be amongst the team regularly for probably 2-3 seasons more. Is he worth the investment?
Furthermore, there are concerns about his attitude. Wenger doesn’t like a player with a sulky and impatient attitude, although he has taken them on before, notably Gallas, RVP and currently Debuchy. He has the ability to change such an attitude, but if Payet isn’t willing to remain professional and play for his contracted club when the going gets tough, what’s not to say he’d throw a strop if things aren’t going the way he’d hoped for at Arsenal.
Lastly is his positioning in the team. If Alexis was remaining up top for the Gunners indefinitely, then I’d say there may be room on the wing for Payet. However with Giroud proving his worth, there’s every chance Alexis may be shunted back out to the wing sooner rather than later. With Iwobi, Walcott, Ox and Lucas also all waiting in the wings. Is there really any room for Payet, or any other winger for that reason?
Should Arsenal be looking to act on Payet’s unhappiness?
By AH