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Dimitri Payet unites West Ham fans as one last parting gift

ByScott Johnson|
LONDON, ENGLAND - JANUARY 06: Dimitri Payet of West Ham United looks dejected during The Emirates FA Cup Third Round match between West Ham United and Manchester City at London Stadium on January 6, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - JANUARY 06: Dimitri Payet of West Ham United looks dejected during The Emirates FA Cup Third Round match between West Ham United and Manchester City at London Stadium on January 6, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)

West Ham have agreed a deal to let Dimitri Payet leave. Marseille are set to pay between £25 plus add-ons to sign the playmaker.

After the player went on strike earlier this month, it seemed there was no good way for him to leave. However West Ham may come out of this a star player down, but overall better off. And it’s all thanks to their handling of the situation.

When Bilic first came out about Payet’s demands to leave, there was a divide in the fanbase. Some thought he had done the right thing in showing the player as the bad guy, whereas the other half felt that the club should have tried to reconcile the differences before making it impossible for him to return.

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However it has worked in the club’s favour. Dimitri Payet was a favourite for many fans, and if he left the club it was always going to be tough. However by leaving in these circumstances, he’s provided the fans with one more gift. Unity in a complicated season.

Dimitri Payet

It’s no secret that football puts people through an entire range of emotions, and Payet has done that to everyone at the club. If you hate his actions over the departure of the club, then you can only admire what he did during his short spell in East London.

The French playmaker was quite simply the best all round player I saw at the Boleyn ground. The only two players that came close to his ability were Di Canio and Tevez. As I was born in 1991, many will point to Trevor Brooking and players from before my time. That may be a fair comparison, but as I never saw them live it would be unfair for me to raise comparison.

Last season, the final one at the Boleyn, Dimitri Payet made all West Ham fans believe that we could be up with the others. For a while it looked like a fairytale was possible. His freekicks seemed to be laser guided, and he made others look like their runs were genius with his passing.

For everything he did at the club, he should be remembered for his talent.

However to forget the way he has behaved would open the club up to this again. Dimitri Payet is a disgraceful professional, and a sad show of what the game can turn in to.

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But by parting in this manner, in a season where the club needed a boost, has meant that once again the fans, squad, manager and board are united behind a common cause. Payet’s final gift to the Hammers is a reminder of what has made this club stay together through thick and thin over all the years.

That West Ham United always have been, are now, and always will be bigger than any single player that wears the shirt.