Dimitri Payet to Marseille: Latest Transfer Details, Comments and Reaction

Ligue 1 side Olympique de Marseille have completed the signing of West Ham United winger Dimitri Payet for a reported fee of £25 million, just 18 months after selling him to the Premier League outfit. 

West Ham confirmed the transfer on Sunday, with Payet signing a four-and-a-half-year contract with the French club, per the Guardian's David Hytner. 

Marseille shared a photo of Payet upon his return:

West Ham joint-chairman David Sullivan provided a statement to the club's website about Payet's departure:

"

The Club would like to place on record its sincere disappointment that Dimitri Payet did not show the same commitment and respect to West Ham United that the Club and fans showed him, particularly when it rewarded him with a lucrative new five-and-half-year deal only last year.

I would like to make it clear that we have no financial need to sell our best players and that the decision to allow Payet to leave was in accordance with the wishes of the manager and the interests of squad unity. To be frank, my Board and I would have preferred for him to have stayed in order to make an example of him, as no player is bigger than the club.

"

Speculation linking Payet with the West Ham exit intensified following their sluggish start to the 2016-17 campaign, during which the Frenchman struggled to recapture the same form exhibited in 2015-16.

Rumours of a London Stadium departure were also aided by Payet's comments to French radio station RMC in December (h/t Mirror's Ben Burrows), when he spoke positively on a possible move to Arsenal:

"

I read that Wenger considers me the missing piece of the Arsenal's game, but he's never told me that!

We conceded five or six at home against them. When you see them playing, as a technical player, you could only have fun in that team. They're candidates for the title every year.

The situation at the club affects me, but I'm an ambitious person. 

I'm in a fight with my club and I'm giving everything for them, to get out of this difficult situation, but I'm not closing the door to anything.

"

The 29-year-old has finally made good on the suggestions he could leave east London just 18 months after joining the Hammers from Marseille.

Payet's comments led to West Ham manager Slaven Bilic confirming in early January that the player did "not want to play" for his side, per BBC Sport. The Frenchman was then omitted from the squad for two matches against Crystal Palace on Jan. 14 and Middlesbrough on Jan. 21.

Payet was a major driving force behind West Ham's push to finish seventh in the Premier League in the 2015-16 campaign, and his new employers will be seeking to revive that talismanic form at the Stade Velodrome.

The winger's set-piece quality alone has proved itself to be of immense value to West Ham, while his playmaking could be enhanced further with a more talented crop around him.

Payet leaves London Stadium after scoring 18 goals in a total 66 appearances for the Hammers, per Transfermarkt.