Slaven Bilic expecting Dimitri Payet to stay at West Ham despite transfer rumours
Friday 18 November 2016 08:29, UK
Slaven Bilic is paying little attention to transfer talk swirling around Dimitri Payet, who he is confident will stay at West Ham in January.
Payet caused a stir earlier this month when he hinted at a move to Paris Saint-Germain and said he would "close the door to nothing" when it comes to his future.
But Bilic, speaking ahead of West Ham's Premier League return to action against Tottenham on Saturday, said he was relaxed about the situation and was not even planning to approach the situation with the France international.
"I read it but he said nothing major," said Bilic. "He said he didn't want to close the door to something, he didn't say 'I want to leave' in January or June or whatever so let's not make a big issue.
"I'm quite relaxed. We are not going to talk about it particularly but with every big player there are a lot of rumours and interest. So I don't have to talk to him about it."
Payet's form this season has been below what he achieved in 2015-16, when West Ham reached the Europa League places, and Bilic is more concerned about getting him back to those high levels.
The Hammers face their fierce rivals languishing in 17th place in the table, just one point outside the bottom three with nearly a third of the season gone.
"In every game, you need your characters to show their qualities, no matter if it is to defend, to fight, to tackle and win second balls or create something special and win games for you," Bilic added.
"We need him a lot in every game, especially when you are playing against a defence that has conceded so far the fewest goals in the Premier League.
"Of course you need something special to score against them and you are expecting your best players to do it."
Upgrade to Sky Sports now to watch Man Utd v Arsenal and get the first six months half price!
