Dimitri Payet secures move to Marseille

The France international has been angling for an exit for most of January, a situation that became toxic after coach Slaven Bilic revealed in a press conference that Payet no longer wished to play for the club.

Published : Jan 29, 2017 18:36 IST

Payet is expected to undergo his medical with Marseille side this afternoon as he prepares to join the Ligue 1 side on an 18-month basis.
Payet is expected to undergo his medical with Marseille side this afternoon as he prepares to join the Ligue 1 side on an 18-month basis.
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Payet is expected to undergo his medical with Marseille side this afternoon as he prepares to join the Ligue 1 side on an 18-month basis.

West Ham has announced it has agreed a fee of £25million for the sale of star playmaker Dimitri Payet to Marseille.

A deal was agreed between the clubs on Sunday, with the playmaker reportedly travelling to his native France to complete a medical.

Payet joined the Hammers from the Ligue 1 side in June 2015, setting the Premier League alight during his first season in England.

His performances helped manager Slaven Bilic guide West Ham to a seventh-place finish in the final campaign at Upton Park, as Payet earned a key role with France during its Euro 2016 campaign on home soil.

But 2016-17 has not been kind to Payet or West Ham, with the club's move to London Stadium, the converted venue that staged the Olympic Games in 2012, initially knocking the Hammers badly out of its stride.

It failed to qualify for the Europa League group stage and has struggled for consistency in the top flight, although two successive wins in its last two outings has seen it climb to the relative comfort of 10th place after appearing in danger of becoming involved in a relegation battle.

Payet in particular had been unable to replicate the form that won him so many admirers last season. And Bilic confirmed the worst fears of West Ham supporters earlier this month, when he announced Payet was no longer willing to play for the club.

The 29-year-old former Nantes, Saint-Etienne and Lille player looks set to re-join his old club, with his next task to hit the heights that caught the eye of Les Bleus coach Didier Deschamps last year.

Marseille, which hosts Lyon in the Coupe de France on Tuesday, is fifth in Ligue 1.

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