Gold breaks silence on Payet situation

West Ham joint Chairman David Gold and vice-chairman Karren Brady have been noticeably absent on social media since news broke of Dimi Payet’s refusal to play for West Ham again – seemingly as part of a deliberate policy not to add more fuel atop the fire with any Twitter outbursts from the two high profile board members.

Even Jack Sullivan has complied with the social media black out on Payet’s antics and has stayed quiet during the media storm.

But yesterday evening the club’s board finally broke silence by publishing a well polished statement from David Gold on WHUFC.com – probably on the advice of West Ham’s new Head of corporate comms Paul Cox, who has been advising them on PR in the last few days.

Gold told the official website: “I am saddened by the recent revelations that Dimitri Payet wants to leave West Ham United.

We have met all of his requirements since he joined and we committed long-term to him when we gave him a new five-year contract back in February 2016, so this is hugely disappointing.

We have made it clear that he is not for sale and we want to see some loyalty from him, after Slaven, the players and all the fans have given him so much support.

We gave Dimitri the opportunity to play in the best league in the world when he wasn’t in the France team and the platform that has helped him become one of the best players in Europe.

Slaven gave him the confidence to excel in the Premier League and he got back into the France team due to his impressive form at West Ham United.

He signed a long-term contract last year and we want him to honour that.

I know this news will come as a big shock to our fans, but knowing them like I do, I am sure they will do everything to get behind the team on Saturday and help us get back to winning ways”