Former United attacking midfielder Dimitri Payet has claimed that he once turned down a move to .
The 35-year-old is well-known for his 18-month spell with the Irons, where he dazzled the Premier League with his set-piece ability, dribbling skills and wonderful technique, eventually being named in the PFA Team of the Year and being nominated for the PFA Players’ Player of the Year for 2016.
Following this, and his outstanding displays at Euro 2016 for France, Payet was the subject of a lot of interest from top clubs around Europe, but he appeared to commit himself to West Ham, signing a new lucrative contract that would have kept him at the club until 2021.
However, his time in England ended on a controversial note, with the former French international seemingly downing tools and refusing to play for the club during his last few months at the Stadium.
Despite wanting to keep him, West Ham eventually sent Payet back to his former club Olympique Marseille in January 2017, where the playmaker still resides today.
To this day, Irons fans remain bitter about Payet’s exit, while the player has remained very quiet about why he chose to return to France, with some speculation suggesting that he was unhappy over West Ham’s lack of ambition and failures in the transfer market.
In the last month however, Payet began to open up about what happened, telling L’Equipe: ‘I left West Ham more for family reasons than sporting ones.’
And now in an interview with RMC Sport show Le Vestiaire, he has also revealed that he turned down a move to Old Trafford in favour of returning to Marseille.
‘I made a choice, which was not just related to football, but it was to family, to come back to Marseille,’ he said.
‘There were other clubs, big clubs. There was Manchester United and others. It was a personal and family choice. I think it was the best for me and my family.
‘I’m not someone who lives with regrets.’
With 10 goals and nine assists in Ligue 1 this season alone, Payet clearly still has what it takes to compete at the top level, and while he may have no regrets, stats like that probably make United regret failing to land the Frenchman when they had the chance.
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