West Ham United manager Slaven Bilic is surprised at the ease with which his side signed Dimitri Payet last summer, but is glad that they managed to bring the French international to the Boleyn Ground.
The 28-year-old joined the Hammers from Ligue 1 side Marseille in June and has since proven to be one of Bilic’s main men, with seven strikes to his name in 17 appearances, despite being out of action for more than three months due to an ankle injury.
The attacking midfielder made such an impact for the Hammers that, just seven months into an initial five-year agreement, the club moved in for a contract extension in an attempt to ensure that the player was not lured away, amidst interest from Chinese club Shanghai Shenhua, and secured his services until 2021.
Just two days after pledging his long term-future to the east London side, Payet, with one goal and another assist during a heart-racing 2-2 draw against Norwich City on Saturday, bagged an important point for the Irons at Carrow Road, thus proving his worth once again. And Bilic is happy with the way the transfer was handled.
“It wasn't a record deal for West Ham. Nowhere near that, I don't think. But we were first to react, or we used the situation that for some reason bigger clubs didn't try to get him. I don't know why, it was a bit of a surprise”, he was quoted as saying by the club’s official website.
relatedNewsStory
“To be fair, I thought it was going to be possible, but I didn't believe we were going to do it that quickly.
“Credit to the chairman, he did it very, very quickly, in the space of ten days and he was our player. I was happy then and I'm happy now”, Bilic added.
West Ham United, who are now seventh in the league table, will be hoping that Payet continues his run of form when they take on Blackburn Rovers in the fifth round of the FA Cup on Sunday.
