West Ham's Dimitri Payet has reportedly gone on strike and is refusing to play for the club after a £20m bid from Marseille was rejected.
The Telegraph reported on Thursday afternoon that the Frenchman who was one of last season's stand out players will not play for the club again, something which they say Hammers boss Slaven Bilic has confirmed at a press conference today.
"We have said we don't want to sell our best players but Payet does not want to play for us," the paper report Bilic as saying. "We are not going to sell him.
"I expect from him to come back and to show commitment and determination to the team like the team has shown to him.
"We aren't going to sell him, not whatsoever. It's not a money issue or anything. We want to keep our best players.
"I spoke to the chairman and this is not a money issue. We gave him a long contract because we want him to stay."
Dimitri Payet has reportedly gone on strike and is citing a back injury as a reason not to play. Image: Adam Davy PA Wire/PA Images
In a statement on the club's official website today, Bilic went on to say: "I have a team to manage and he has probably been tapped up by some clubs, or whatever, which is usual in this part of the year, in the transfer window. Anyway, until he changes his attitude, he is out of the team. He isn’t going to train with us."
The club cite that the player "flourished in a West Ham shirt" which led in part to an international recall and was last year "awarded an improved five year-contract".
West Ham faced a battle to hang on to the midfielder over the summer, after Payet's sterling performances at both the European Championships and during last season's Premier League campaign.
"He's settled in London with his family, the fans adore him and we're going to the Olympic Stadium," West Ham co-chairman David Gold told the BBC last July. "We've done everything we possibly could do and I'm hoping that will be enough.
"The superclubs would come after a player of his ability and we wouldn't listen to any offer under £50m. Even then, we need to keep our best players."
The Telegraph go on to say that the club had asked the player to stick with them until the end of the season and would be free to leave the club in the summer.
