Why Dimitri Payet will be West Ham’s biggest fan against Lyon as Europa League clash looms

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Why former Hammers star Dimitri Payet will be West Ham’s biggest fan against Lyon as Europa League clash looms large.

West Ham’s huge Europa League quarter-final first leg against Lyon takes place at the London Stadium on Thursday night and the excitement is building.

And the Hammers can surely count on the support of one former player – a certain Frenchman by the name of Payet.

The talismanic Payet is one of the best players to have graced West Ham in the modern era.

His sudden departure in January 2017 sullied his name with many West Ham fans who had adored him.

Payet broke a five-year silence on the issue when he confirmed he left West Ham for family and not sporting reasons in an interview with L’Equipe recently – as translated by Get French Football News.

And the mercurial star insisted it wasn’t a decision he took lightly.

Many Hammers fans may never forgive Payet for the way he left the club, effectively downing tools to force a move back to his beloved Marseille.

But they say time is a great healer and it is impossible not to look back on the French playmaker’s time on the pitch at West Ham with anything but great fondness.

Payet is still ripping it up in Ligue 1 with Marseille at the grand old age of 34. His side sit second, seven places above West Ham’s Europa opponents Lyon.

And Payet will surely be West Ham’s biggest fan against Lyon as the Europa League clash looms.

Not only because of his West Ham roots. Or the fact he plays for Lyon’s bitter foes Marseille, a rivalry which dates back to 1945 and has its own name – Choc des Olympiques (Clash of the Olympics) or the Olympico.

But especially after an unsavoury incident earlier this season in which Payet was hit by a bottle in a Lyon vs Marseille clash, sparking chaotic scenes, a match abandonment and ultimately resulted in a stadium fan ban for West Ham’s Thursday night opponents.

Payet was at the centre of the chaotic scenes after he was smashed in the head with a full bottle thrown from the crowd in Marseille’s game against Lyon back in November.

West Ham fans will remember Payet’s brilliant set-pieces well.

And he was walking over to take a corner against Lyon when he suddenly collapsed to the ground. Footage – which you can see below – showed Payet being struck by the bottle and falling to the ground.

He was treated by physios while Marseille and Lyon players remonstrated with their own fans over the incident.

A near-two hour wait then ensued, before the match was eventually called off just before 11pm local time. Lyon fans – OM supporters were absent due to a ban on their away support – were told 40 minutes beforehand that the match would resume.

You can see the crazy scenes involving former West Ham man Payet here or in the video below.

It’s safe to say there is no love lost between Lyon fans and Payet.

So West Ham can surely count on the support of their former star over the next two weeks as David Moyes’s side bid to set up a potential semi-final clash with either Barcelona or Eintracht Frankfurt.