West Ham United boss Slaven Bilic has claimed that star attacker Dimitri Payet will stay at the Hammers next season despite reported interest from Real Madrid and Manchester United.
Payet, who joined West Ham last summer for £10.7 million, was one of the star performers in the Premier League this campaign, scoring nine goals and providing 12 assists in 30 league appearances.
The 29-year-old has attracted interest from a host of big European clubs with Real Madrid boss Zidedine Zidane publicly claiming that ‘Payet is everything a coach looks for’.
Payet’s sensational form in club football has been equally matched by his performances in the Euro 16 after scoring two goals and providing one assist in the first three games of the European tournament.
The Frenchman’s demand in the transfer market has been on a remarkable rise for weeks now, although Hammers’ boss Slaven Bilic insists that Payet will not leave this summer.
“As a club manager, when you have a player involved there is added interest and there is no doubt Dimitri Payet has been one of the stars of the tournament,” Bilic wrote in his column for the Daily Mail.
“I understand that with his success, all the speculation about his future will follow. I have even seen one report suggesting I don’t want him to do well in case it leads to him leaving West Ham. That is not right. I want him to play great. I want him to score a hat-trick and another hat-trick in the final.
“I know then that the giant clubs will come but I would love him to stay at West Ham. We have texted each other over the last three weeks and he is happy at the club. He is our player.”
Bilic’s statement do not surprise many, who remains optimistic to keep his star-man at the club but Payet appears likely to leave the London-based club with a host of elite clubs waiting to pounce for his signature.
Real Madrid and Man Utd are thought to have already registered interest to sign Payet as reports link the former Marseille attacker with a £38 million move to Inter Milan but Payet’s agent has already declared that it will need ‘ridiculous money’ to enforce West Ham to sell their Player of the Season.
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