“It’s signed”blurted Dimitri Payet. Guest of the show Greg’s Teamon the channel The Team, On Monday November 25, 2024, the 37-year-old announced that he would return to Olympique de Marseille at the end of his career. In what role? This still remains to be defined. Under contract with Vasco da Gama until June 2025, the playmaker does not yet know if he will continue the adventure in Brazil with the Rio de Janeiro club. One thing is certain: his return to Canebière is confirmed.
“My last season at OM was difficult personally. As captain, I did what I had to do: a captain must think of others before himself. I took care of others. There will be a return to the club, after which we will discuss more details. I want to help, be useful, help continue to grow OM. It’s signed, there will be a return”he declared.
When ? We don’t know either. The former France team player fears the day when he will be forced to hang up his boots and hopes to play as long as his body allows him. “What scares me the most is seeing the end coming, confided Dimitri Payet during the interview given to the channel The Team. Every morning I really enjoy training. I still have a lot of fun playing. I don’t tell myself today that the end is near. But, unfortunately, I know that at some point my body will tell me to stop. I love Football so much that the end is going to be difficult for me. The day I have to stop doing what I love, giving people pleasure, is going to be difficult. »
A premier come-back in 2017
The Reunion native played eight and a half seasons for the Old Port and played 326 matches with the Olympian tunic on his shoulders. Arriving in 2013, he then joined the English club West Ham two years later. At the end of his first season across the Channel, he was selected for the Premier League team, voted best London player in the championship as well as West Ham player of the year at the end of the 2015-2016 season. Performances which had attracted the interest of several major English clubs. However, in January 2017, during the winter transfer window, the native of Saint-Pierre had nevertheless chosen to return to the Marseille city.
“My duty was to return to Marseille”
“There are choices a man must make. My duty was to return to Marseille for my family because it was the best choice. Football is my whole life but if there is something above that, it is my family. So this choice was purely family. I don’t regret it in any way. I spent wonderful years in Marseille and it’s something I fully take responsibility for”he explained to the channel The Team. It now remains to be seen how he will return to OM.
Senegal
