West Ham wizard Dimitri Payet: A career without titles, but not without magic

While some players are beginning to write their footballing history, others seem to be past their peak. Such is the case of Dimitri Payet, whose career is inevitably coming to an end.

The former Olympique de Marseille and West Ham player has enjoyed a special career with some exceptional moments, even if the titles did not necessarily follow.

Payet began his career on Reunion Island, before moving to Ligue 1 with FC Nantes in 2004, where he spent three years, without making much of an impression.

It was when he joined AS Saint-Étienne in 2007 that he began to make a name for himself in the French league. At the time, Payet was considered a good Ligue 1 player and earned his first cap for Les Bleus in 2010.

Payet joined newly-crowned champions LOSC in the summer of 2011 to continue climbing the ladder in the sometimes tough world of professional football.

As the years went by, Payet caught the eye of Olympique de Marseille, who recruited him in 2013, creating an unconditional love affair between him and the Marseille fans.

And Payet's level continued to improve, as he gradually became a key player in the French league.

In 2014/15, the Reunion-born ended the season as Ligue 1's best passer with 16 assists, just two shy of Angel Di Maria's record (18 assists in 2015/16).

His obvious qualities allowed Payet to join the Premier League at the end of the 2014/15 season, signing for West Ham for €15 million (£13m)

Payet's status changed dramatically during his time in England, where he dazzled fans on an almost weekly basis.

As the Hammers's playmaker, Payet enjoyed an exceptional first season in the Premier League. Elegant, quick, precise and technically gifted, the Frenchman showed some magnificent things right from the start.

In the 2015/16 season, Payet was named in the Premier League's Team of the Year and was voted London Player of the Year, as well as West Ham's Player of the Year.

These personal distinctions gave Payet a different status in the eyes of the footballing world, which began to consider the midfielder as one of the best players in his position, enabling him to claim 17th place in the Ballon d'Or ranking.

His first season at West Ham also saw him become one of the mainstays of the French team during Euro 2016, when he saved Les Bleus in their opening match against Romania with a superb late strike.

Payet's second season with West Ham was less impressive than his first, before he returned to his beloved Olympique de Marseille.

He spent a further six seasons there, during which he rarely dropped out of the starting line-up. In that period, he also played in a Europa League final, which he lost to Atlético Madrid in 2018.

After a complicated 2022/23 season under Igor Tudor, Payet joined Vasco de Gama this summer on a two-year deal, which is likely to be his last club before the end of his career.