2023-07-21 14:27:00
Pablo Longoria, president of OM, announced that the club and Dimitri Payet had made the decision to separate, after “weeks of reflection”.
by MI with AFP Dimitri Payet, OM player between 2013 and 2015, returned to OM in 2017, after two seasons in England, at West Ham. © JEAN CATUFFE / Jean Catuffe / DPPI via AFP Published on 07/21/2023 at 2:27 p.m.
OM and Payet, it’s over. Pablo Longoria, president of the Marseille club, called an emergency press conference on Friday July 21. He had a terrible announcement to make: Dimitri Payet is leaving OM. The 36-year-old French striker, who did not take part in the training camp in Germany with the rest of the group, had trained alone this week. During the press conference, he couldn’t hold back his tears and asked his teammates for forgiveness, which he hasn’t been able to answer for the past few days.
“We have decided not to continue the adventure together with our captain. It took many weeks of reflection, of discussion”, announced for his part Pablo Longoria alongside a very moved Dimitri Payet, who explained that he wanted to “continue to play” elsewhere.
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A pure talent endowed with a rare elegance, OM’s number 10 marked the club with his technical class, his goals and his assists which inspired a whole generation of Olympians.
The whole club wishes Dimitri Payet, as well… pic.twitter.com/1JAYweOxNA
– Olympique de Marseille (@OM_Officiel) July 21, 2023
Attached to the city and the club, where he was playing his ninth season, Payet had signed a contract under the mandate of former president Jacques-Henri Eyraud which bound him to OM until June 2024 and ensured him a retraining within the club.
Payet wants to continue playing football
Alongside Pablo Longoria, number 10 and former international (38 caps, 8 goals), very moved and in tears, announced that he wanted to “continue to play football”, after “a very difficult season with little playing time”. But the playmaker said he wanted to give himself “time” to make a decision.
His future will therefore be played out far from OM, where he will have played eight and a half seasons (2013 to 2015, then 2017 to 2023) for 326 games, 78 goals and 95 assists, according to statistics given by the club on Friday. A decade or so of passion, but without ever having won a single title.
During his career in Ligue 1 under the jerseys of Marseille, Lille, Saint-Étienne and Nantes, he played 492 games and scored 103 goals, according to the Professional Football League (LFP).
During his interlude with London club West Ham (2015-2017), he wore the Hammers jersey 49 times and scored 11 goals, before returning to Marseille.
A remarkable passage among the Blues with a brilliant Euro 2016
In the France team, he particularly shone at the start of Euro 2016, notably with a superb goal to snatch victory against Romania, but two years later, injured in the Europa League final against Atlético Madrid, the attacking midfielder did not participate in the triumphant 2018 World Cup of the Blues.
Payet was coming out of a very complicated last year, during which he had never managed to fit into the plans of ex-coach Igor Tudor: he appeared only 26 times last season, for 4 goals, generally grabbing a few minutes at the end of the game.
READ ALSOFootball – Euro 2016: France without rhinestones, but with Payet!“I thank my teammates, my presidents, my coaches and everyone who has been there to ensure that I am always well, always in good shape. My family of course and OM, because OM is my family,” said the native of Reunion.
“Dimitri, you are a very important part of the history of this club. You have inspired a generation of OM supporters, with many very good times, great victories, shared moments,” said Pablo Longoria. “It’s not a goodbye but a see you soon. You have the doors of the club wide open,” he added.
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