Dimitri Payet has told West Ham he wants to leave and has gone on strike, Slaven Bilic has revealed.
The 29-year-old let Bilic know at the start of the January transfer window that he wants to be sold – despite having only signed a new five-year deal last February worth £125,000 a week.
It made Payet the best-paid player in the history of the club but Bilic, who insists he will not sell the West Ham superstar, believes he is being ‘tapped up’ by other clubs.
Payet was in France last week and super-rich Paris Saint-Germain are among those to have been linked with the player. A return to his former club Marseille could be on the cards, with the French club bankrolled by new owner Frank McCourt, a US billionaire.
They are the leading club in the race to sign him at the moment and would jump at the chance to have him back. It is understood Payet would like to go back to France for personal reasons.
