West Ham are said to be holding out for around $40 million for star player Dimitri Payet.
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Manager Slaven Bilic revealed that Payet, 29, has refused to play for the Hammers as he wants to push through a move away from the club. The Telegraph reports that Marseille president Jacques-Henri Eyraud flew to London on Monday to discuss a deal for Payet, who joined the Hammers from Marseille in the summer of 2015 for $13 million.
The Hammers are said to be reluctant to sell Payet at all, but it’s obvious they’d rather sell him to a foreign club instead of strengthening one of their Premier League rivals. Payet’s quality is undoubted and he’s created more chances than any other player in the PL this season.
However, West Ham won’t let him leave in a hurry and Sky Sports are reporting that the London club have rejected a second bid from Marseille (believed to be around $25 million) as they want the Ligue 1 club to reach their valuation. Payet is said to be training with West Ham’s U-23 side and the club is demanding that he apologizes to the fans, his teammates and his manager for his actions.
Payet was paid a $1.2 million “loyalty bonus” in September after being signing a new lucrative deal in the summer following his heroics for France at EURO 2016.
Sky Sports are reporting that West Brom have bid $12 million for Hull City midfielder Jake Livermore.
The 27-year-old has been a regular for Hull all season but was on the bench for Marco Silva’s first Premier League game in charge at the weekend. Hull beat Bournemouth 3-1 and Livermore may now see his future elsewhere.
Tony Pulis is openly looking for a new central midfielder as the Baggies, who are sitting comfortably in eighth place in the table, lost out on Morgan Schneiderlin to Everton last week.
Livermore has been a steady player throughout his career and he would surely jump at the chance to join a team who are all but guaranteed to be playing in the Premier League next season, rather than stay with Hull we are battling relegation. Hull have plenty of other options in central midfield too and this money would give Silva plenty of funds to spend in the window.
Surely this deal would work out for everyone?