Messi mirosar10 The attacking midfielder, who has won 15 caps for France, has already passed his medical with the Hammers and agreed a five-year contract.
F50 Crazylight A West Ham statement read: „The outstanding 28-year-old joins the Hammers on a five-year contract, with a further one-year option, for an undisclosed eight-figure fee from French Ligue 1 side Olympique de Marseille.“
Messi Birthday cleat Payet played 36 times for Marseille last term, scoring seven goals, while he also had the most assists in Ligue 1 with 16.
He becomes West Ham’s third senior summer signing following the arrivals of Spanish midfielder Pedro Obiang and Republic of Ireland goalkeeper Darren Randolph.
The forward, who played for Nantes, St Etienne and Lille before moving to Marseille in 2013, said new Hammers manager Slaven Bilic played an influential role in his decision to move to the Premier League.
He told : „West Ham really showed me that they wanted me to come, both the joint-chairmen (David Sullivan and David Gold) and the manager. That’s very important for me. I was also keen to sign up to a clear project. West Ham’s is very interesting and matches perfectly with my ambitions.
„Firstly I spoke with the manager, who really wished for me to come here and had been watching me a lot. He made it clear that he wanted me to sign and that too was important in my choice.
„I’m an attacking footballer so for sure I like attacking football and that they’re counting on me to help achieve that gives me a sense of responsibility. The fact that I’m here is also down to that.“
F50 Messi Neon Orange Marseille were reluctant to let one of their prize assets leave.
Messi Soccer Cleats The French giants released a lengthy statement on Thursday saying it is “absolutely not their intention“ to sell Payet but that they were forced to accept West Ham’s bid after a dispute with the player and his agent over a new contract.
Payet, who scored in France’s 4-3 defeat against Belgium earlier this month, added on whufc.com: „I’m very happy to be here. It’s true that it’s taken a little while but that’s normal, negotiations are like that. But now that it’s done, I’m very happy.“