Arsene Wenger has ruled out a move for wantaway West Ham United playmaker Dimitri Payet, insisting it’ll be a quiet transfer window for Arsenal.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has said that Arsenal will not be making a move for wanaway West Ham United playmaker Dimitri Payet. He further went on to add that the January transfer window is set to be ‘a very quiet period’ for the Gunners as he has a very strong squad at his disposal.
It hasn’t taken long for Dimitri Payet to go from hero to zero at West Ham United. After sealing a £10.7 million move to the London club from Marseille in the summer of 2015, Payet quickly settled to life in England to be their most influential player last season.
His exploits from the West Ham midfield saw him bag 9 goals and 12 assists in the Premier League, a tally that saw him being nominated in PFA’s Team of the Year, before winning the club’s Player of the Year.
The West Ham fans were going gaga over the Frenchman and it looked like Payet was quite happy with life at the Olympic Stadium as well, until last week. That was when the West Ham boss Slaven Bilic sent shock waves across England and Europe by announcing that Payet was refusing to play for the club.
Arsenal have been said to have monitored Payet in recent months, and were linked with a move for the French midfielder. However, even as Payet is unsettled and on the exit trail at West Ham, Arsene Wenger has said that club are not interested in acquiring his services as there was no need for him at Arsenal.
As reported by the Daily Mail, Arsene Wenger said: “I don’t need Payet because we have so many creative players. I rate Payet, of course. We have many players offensively that can play in this position. You’re interested in the quality of the player, but there has to be a need too.”
When asked if the club would make any other signing in the January transfer window, Wenger said that it was unlikely as he has a strong squad. He added: “I expect it to be a be a very quiet period. We have (Danny) Welbeck coming back offensively. We are very strong. We have many, many players who can come in.”
So, that puts Payet’s Arsenal links to an end. However, with Chelsea the latest club to have been reported to be targetting the France international, and with Marseille already lodging a bid for the player, we could yet see Payet leave West Ham in the January transfer window.
