West Ham United playmaker Dimitri Payet is reportedly closing in on a return to former club Marseille, with a €25m deal set to be agreed upon.
The French international was left out of the squad this past weekend after Hammers boss Slaven Bilic confirmed in his press conference last week that he had informed him that he didn’t want to play for the club anymore.
While the initial stance was that Payet would not leave in January, according to L’Equipe, he is closing in on an exit from the London Stadium with Marseille holding a meeting with West Ham on Monday.
It’s claimed that Jacques-Henri Eyraud, the club’s president, and his sports director have flown to London to sign Payet in an initial €22m deal, with an additional €3m in bonuses.
The 29-year-old is under contract with West Ham until 2021, but given that he has no desire to play for them, the club are undoubtedly making the right decision to offload him and reinvest the transfer fee rather than hold a player at the club against his will.
However, it will be disappointing news for Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United who have all been paired with an interest in Payet, as per the Metro, as they are all set to miss out with the creative ace favouring a return to his old club.
The most frustrating aspect out of this entire situation is that the Frenchman looks a shadow of the player he was last season, and just last summer at Euro 2016, when he was mesmerising supporters on a weekly basis with his quality.
From scoring 15 goals and providing 17 assists in 44 appearances in all competitions, to managing just three goals and eight assists in 22 games this year, it’s been an alarming drop off from Payet who will hope to rediscover his form and happiness at Marseille.