West Ham needs to sign Dimitri Payet to an improved contract or risk watching him move to Arsenal
West Ham cannot risk Dimitri Payet moving to Arsenal. They need to offer their star talisman a new contract to prevent his head from being turned towards the Emirates.
The Sun reports that Payet’s representatives are looking to net their client a substantial raise. They are asking that West Ham raise Payet’s compensation from 75 thousand pounds up to 125 thousand per week. Club officials are miffed at this request given the fact that Payet only signed his current contract six months ago.
West Ham can’t afford to act like a small club when it comes to Payet’s contract. While their frustration at Payet wanting a new deal so soon is understandable, ultimately it doesn’t matter. The price of Premier League stars is going up with the new Sky Sports television deal and Payet is definitely one of the league’s brightest stars.
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The French midfielder has been the club’s best player by a fair margin this season. He’s knocked in six goals and four assists in just 18 Premier League contests. More impressively, he leads the team with a Whoscored.com player rating of 7.64. He does have a reputation of being a bit of a difficult teammate, but there hasn’t been any sign of that during his time with the Hammers.
It’s also understandable that he wants to capitalize on his terrific form this season with a new contract. Remember, he’s already 28-years-old so he only has a few prime years of earning left. He needs to strike while the iron is hot (pun intended). He may never get another opportunity to score a big Premier League contract.
Retaining Payet is essential to West Ham if they plan to capitalize on their success this season. He’s a big reason they’ve been one of the league’s surprise teams. They currently sit sixth in the Premier League which puts them in great shape to achieve European competition next season.
Losing Payet to a club like Arsenal, who is known for their French connections, would be a huge blow. He is truly the engine that makes their offense go. If you don’t believe it, just check out the video below to see what kind of difference he made against Bournemouth on his return to the West Ham lineup from injury.
Payet is equally adept at scoring or providing goal scoring opportunities for his teammates. Given West Ham’s lack of consistency at striker, they can ill afford to lose an attacker of Payet’s quality. Manuel Lanzini is another terrific offensive option, but he too plays much better when Payet is on the field occupying the attention of opposing defenses.
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It’s time for West Ham to pay the cost of being a club occupying a spot in the top half of the Premier League. They have the right manager in Slaven Bilic, and the right star in the form of Dimitri Payet. They can’t afford to act cheap and let Payet trade in his West Ham kit for a move to Arsenal.