Slaven Bilic has lifted the lid on what caused Dimitri Payet’s messy exit from West Ham.

The former Hammers boss also explained how his signing came about following his own appointment in 2015.

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Bilic has lifted the lid on Payet’s time at West Ham[/caption]

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The former Hammers boss revealed how the French midfielder was signed, and lifted the lid on his infamous departure[/caption]

Payet joined the club from Marseille, going on to score 15 goals and 22 assists in 60 appearances across all competitions.

However, after just 18 months with the Hammers, Payet out of nowhere forced through a move back to his former club in France.

Bilic has now revealed what he believes caused the midfielder to seek a way out of East London.

The Croatian told The LineUp how the issues stemmed from his return after Euro 2016, explaining: “He came back and the problem was that in the French national team, all of them play Champions League. Every one of them apart from Payet.

“So they were probably like when they go back to their clubs ‘see you on Tuesday, we’re playing Barcelona against Liverpool, who are you playing?’ Then he goes and plays against Norwich or whatever so probably that.

“He wanted to stay and I tried to influence the chairman and the board to say if you have those kinds of players that are becoming bigger, not bigger than the club, but let’s say bigger than the club.

“The only way to keep them is money, every year to give them a little bit or sell them.”

Payet’s stunning first season in England had earned him an international call-up in time for the tournament in home soil.

He had been named the Hammers’ Player of the Year as he inspired them to a seventh place finish.

At Euro 2016, Payet featured in all seven matches as France made the final, scoring three goals and providing two assists to make the Team of the Tournament.

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Payet joined West Ham from Marseille in 2015[/caption]

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Bilic guided West Ham to seventh place in his and Payet’s first season at the club[/caption]

Bilic also recalled how he signed Payet after previously missing out on him during his time with Besiktas.

The Croatian revealed: “David Sullivan said ‘I have a habit doing a favour to sign one player that the manager wants straight away.’”

Bilic continued: “When he mentioned the name ‘Dimitri Payet.’ (I said) ‘Are you sure?’ He goes ‘yeah, yeah, Dimitri Payet.’

“And I remember because I wanted to take Dimitri, who was then at Marseille, to Besiktas in Turkey but he didn’t want to go and I said, ‘get him, get him like yesterday’ and he bought him.”

The Hammers completed the deal early in the summer of 2015, a move which Bilic was grateful for.

He admitted: “For me it was strange and it was very early in the transfer window because otherwise West Ham wouldn’t stand a chance with Tottenham, Arsenal.”

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Payet scored 15 goals in 60 appearances for the Hammers during his 18-month spell[/caption]

Following Payet’s exit, Bilic remained in charge until November 2017, when he was replaced by David Moyes.

During his time at Upton Park and then the London Stadium, Bilic won 42 of 109 matches, 60 of which featured Payet.