It’s the bomb this Friday afternoon. Pablo Longoria has announced the departure of Dimitri Payet from Olympique de Marseille. “It’s not an easy time. We called this press conference to announce that we have decided not to continue our adventure with Dimitri Payet. It was weeks of discussions. The decision is purely sporting […] It’s a difficult decision to make as a club but we take it because we think it’s what’s best for the project and for the future, “said the Marseille president.
Before addressing the Marseille playmaker directly: “Dimitri, you are a very important part of this club. You inspired a generation of OM supporters […] We have always had an honest, transparent and sincere relationship, that’s what I really appreciate. It’s not a ‘goodbye’ but a ‘see you soon’. The doors of the club remain wide open to you. OM is your home, your house, your club.”
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But if his adventure with Olympique de Marseille ends, Dimitri Payet does not intend to stop playing at the high level. “I would like to continue playing. I’m coming out of a very difficult season with little playing time. There, it’s going to be hard (in tears). Above all, what I want today is to play, to simply find pleasure on the pitch, ”explained the 36-year-old player, particularly moved.
This decision, which is obviously not the one he hoped for, was hard to “digest” for the former French international. “It was not what was planned on my side. I took some time to find the best solution. And that’s to accept the club’s decision, even if it’s hard. We sat down and talked. The club offered me to stop playing and join the club. But I think I still have ball and fun to give to some people (in tears),” he said. The one who joined La Canebière in the summer of 2013, from LOSC, and who returned there in January 2017 after a stint at West Ham, then indicated that he would speak more in the coming days.
Despite his “surprise” departure – he still had a year left on his contract – Dimitri Payet will return to Olympique de Marseille … to retrain. “It’s a parenthesis of one year, two years, or three years. We discussed (with Pablo Longoria, editor’s note) post-career and the fact of joining the club at the end of my playing career. My end of career will be marked by my return here. We discussed a jubilee that will be done here, at the Vélodrome, with the people who mattered to me, ”revealed the player trained at FC Nantes. It remains to be seen where he will continue his career.