West Ham United fans have a love-hate relationship with Dimitri Payet.
They used to love him but relations soured when he downed tools to force a return to Marseille back in 2017.
They say time is a great healer.
And most West Ham fans are now able to look back and appreciate how lucky they were to witness Payet’s mercuriel talents for 18 memorable months.
Payet the bad apple
When Payet left his reputation as a professional was in tatters.
He was not only downing tools and refusing to play for a great club like West Ham.
This was the club that had given him the platform to showcase his skills to the world earning him a dream call-up to the France squad for their home Euro 2016 where they reached the final.
This was the club that had rewarded him handsomely with an improved contract and, rather ironically, a loyalty bonus.
Not only that, Payet had betrayed one of the most likeable men in football, Slaven Bilic.
Unprofessional behaviour ruined star’s reputation
Hammers skipper Mark Noble revealed Payet started to separate himself from the rest of the squad as he looked to force his way out (The Express).
So it is understandable why fans would be angry.
But now West Ham star Aaron Cresswell has busted the myth about Payet’s lack of professionalism and bad attitude.
In an interview with the club’s official website, Cresswell – who has scored two in two for the Hammers since returning to the team – revealed Payet was dedicated during his time at West Ham.
Cresswell paints a different picture
“I’ve always fancied by myself from a dead-ball situation,” Cresswell told whufc.com.
“Even back at Tranmere, 12 or so years ago, and then Ipswich, I scored a few, and I’ve scored a couple for West Ham.
“Of course, though, we had a couple of years when Dimi was here and I didn’t get a look in, and rightly so!
“To be fair to him, he’d stay out after training and practice them every day and his standard was on another level.
“He scored a record number of Premier League free-kicks in a season, or something like that.”
Receive a digest of our best West Ham content each week direct to your mailbox
