Fans of Leeds United have been reacting to a post on Twitter, in which James Marshment relays a report that claimed Leeds were interested in the signing of Olympique de Marseille winger, Dimitri Payet.
According to the report by Le 10 Sport, Marcelo Bielsa called Payet to ‘take the temperature’ about a possible return to the Premier League for the player.
The report states that this call would have ‘made the [Frenchman] think a lot’, however, he eventually decided that he would like to remain in Marseille to finish his career, signing a new deal until 2024.
After Marshment relayed some of this report on Twitter, fans of Leeds flocked to have their say on the matter, with many claiming that they would not have liked to see their team make a move for Payet because they believe the 33-year-old has a questionable attitude.
Questionable attitude, never a Bielsa player. Can't see how that's accurate
— Peter Barry (@PeterBarry81) September 14, 2020
Dodged a bullet then
— bielsa’s lucky blue bucket ???? (@delwright21) September 14, 2020
Danger of clubs now trying to offload their expensive non achievers on to the club.
Most of them couldn’t play the system.— peter campbell (@peteandshelly) September 15, 2020
Would do some silly things if this happened https://t.co/cvnnWvGSCR
— Conor Looney (@looneyleeds) September 14, 2020
Despite the feelings of these fans about the Frenchman’s attitude, it is hard to question the player’s ability, as, while Payet was at West Ham United, the winger scored nine goals and provided 12 assists over his 30 Premier League appearances in the 2015/16 Premier League season, averaging a highly impressive WhoScored match rating of 7.74.
In the 2016/17 season, he scored a further two goals and provided another six assists over 18 league appearances, averaging a match rating of 7.53.
However, it would seem that these Leeds fans remember the player’s ‘strike’ when he wanted a move away from the Hammers more than his performances for the club, as many more took to Twitter stating that they are happy their club did not bring the player back to England.
Would you have liked to see Payet sign for Leeds?
Yes
No
If it is true thank goodness we side stepped it
— Simon Robinson (@Sy_Robo) September 14, 2020
Mercenary .. hope we’re not in for him.
— Rich?EPL (@Rich30603317) September 14, 2020
No thanks
— Sam (@sam_lufc24) September 15, 2020
All in all, it would appear that the vast majority of these Leeds fans are delighted that their club did not manage to sign the £9 million-rated winger, as they firmly believe he would not have fit into their squad dynamic, and, at 33-years-old, we have to agree, a move for Payet would have been, in our opinion, quite an odd move from Leeds.