Slaven Bilic believes his West Ham United playmaker, Dimitri Payet, should be a serious contender for this season’s PFA Players’ Player of the Year award.
Payet has been a revelation since his £10.5 million move from Marseilles last summer, scoring seven goals in 21 Barclays Premier League appearances, and the Frenchman is likely to receive the backing of many of his fellow professionals when the PFA’s most prestigious individual prize is decided next month.
Only last night, the 28-year-old was named the Premier League Player of the Year at the London Football Awards at Battersea Evolution, beating the likes of Harry Kane, of Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal’s Mesut Özil, Willian, of Chelsea, and Watford’s Odion Ighalo to the honour.
“I congratulate Dimitri. It’s a big thing for him, a nice award. A nice award not only for him but the whole team, too,” Bilic, the West Ham manager, said.
“He’s the best player and if you think about it, he came in front of the Spurs players, some really great Arsenal players, plus Chelsea and [Crystal] Palace players. It is great for him, great for us.
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“In terms of the PFA award, it may be such a short time but he has made a strong impact since coming to England.
“He is a goalscorer, a very attractive player, who does things on the pitch that are lifting you out of your seat. This is what football is all about.
“He excites you with the way he is playing. He is definitely one of the contenders.
“If he got this reward in London, where they are some really big clubs, then he has got a chance. There are going to be some Leicester [City] players who deserve it 100 per cent but he does have a chance.”
Payet was recommended to Bilic by David Sullivan, the West Ham co-chairman who noticed that the attacking midfielder had had the most assists in France last season and then paid twice as much as he had initially been told the player would cost to take him to Upton Park.
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Surprisingly, Payet continues to be overlooked by the France coach, Didier Deschamps. He has only 15 caps for France with his last appearance coming in a 1-0 defeat by Albania in June. In the autumn, Payet told L’Equipe that his ongoing exclusion from the national squad was an “injustice”.
Unless there are several injuries – or indeed a massive change in thinking – Payet is unlikely to be selected for this summer’s European Championship finals which kick off in his homeland on June 10.
Acknowledging this international exclusion, Bilic could not help but offer a sarcastic response to the French camp. “They have a manager and he has his plans,” the Croatian said. “But all I can say is that if France have in those positions, four, five maybe even six better options than Dimitri, well then they’re going to win the Euros easy. This guy can play in any team in the world. “