West Ham Chairman David Sullivan has admitted he knew Dimitri Payet was a flawed individual before they bought him but added he was a fantastic servant to the club for the first twelve months.
Speaking to Jim White and Tony Cottee about Payet on Talksport this morning Sullivan said: “I think we knew Dimitri was flawed when we got him or £10 or £12 million pounds, I think we paid ten and a half million pounds which was a fantastic buy but we knew we bought a flawed individual. We knew it was an individual who could well go on strike. He has done it all before and that’s well he never really reached his full potential as a player and why big clubs steered clear of him.”
“
However I must say, he was a fantastic servant for the club, gave us 18 wonderful months, particularly the first 12 months. We didn’t want to sell him but we got two and a half times what we paid for him and you have to say whether that was good business. It is not what we wanted but at West Ham we sometimes have to sell, we wouldn’t have sold unless we had to sell him. We had meeting after meeting with him, he wanted out, the manager wanted him out, he didn’t want an unhappy camp and you have to (give) support”
“I would have made him stick it out for six months personally and given him a hard time but if the manager says it is unsettling the whole camp you have to support the manager”
Listen to Sullivan’s full 11-minute interview below
He gave most of us a dream 12 months and not since Di Canio have I had a smile on my face so much
The Jewel was always going to be the future
Ant started late because he was waiting for his chance while we had no effort loan stars making up the team
Now we have players that want to be part of our club
Arnie and the pea want to be part of our club
If Sak can put the clock back 18 months and build a relationship with the Pea
This season could be great
AC on the bench with Ayew pushing for a starting place not sulking
Quina to cover the Jewel possible cup games
Cullen the same pushing Fernandez Kouyate and Obiang
For once we have RB and LB covered
I hope Martinez Samulsun get a chance as they could save us fortunes next couple of season
Oxford to come back next season to replace Ginge and Konte
The future looks Rosy
Now they need to work 110% like Leicester did 2 years ago and we could see silverware
No good having all mega stars there for the money if they can’t be blended in to a team
I will be very interested to see if city thinking they can buy a team when these super stars have to battle it out in winter with hard tackling side with nothing to loose get stuck in
Looks like a great season to watch this year
1 great result against Manure and away we go
COYI
Just read how Everton think we need 18 new players
That’s rich from a side that only had one player that could score against us and his gone
Let’s hope Adrien stays because he loves to score against them and even with a big lead and 15 mins to go they still could not stop us even with trying to cripple all our best players no wonder Barkley wants to leave
We’ve got a great shot at finishing above them this season.
Losing Lukaku will put a huge whole in their goals scored column.
…was flawed – should have been floored.
Don’t get carried away with yourself David ; self praise is easily won . If you knew he was flawed why did you risk all and let the club suffer so much ?? . Then have the gall to admit it. I find that rather sickening to be honest .
West Ham United must be congratulated so far in this window , don’t spoil it by getting all Big Headed . You did well by keeping quite , so now why do you feel it necessary to get mouthy ?? .
The risk was worth it for the first season, but not for the second. Where do you go with that?
I think we (and Sully) have a right to say less than complimentary things about Payet. His behaviour was unacceptable. Full stop.
We had rightfully forgotten about Payet …. why bring it up ?? .
Are you for real or on a wind up.Did you listen to the interview.Jim White the interviewer mentioned Payet to Sullivan and asked about him!!
I would take a long lay down if i was you or at the very least listen to the interview before commenting.
it’s called an interview. the interviewer dictates what gets spoken about most of the time.
We all knew he was flawed its hardly breaking news Kev.If you had looked at or followed his previous escapedes you would have known he was a loose cannon.But i wouldnt change a thing for that 1 season the little shyt was with us 😁
Jesus if things like this sicken you then treble it for me when your hero Hippo Head was manager 😂😂