West Ham transfer news: Hammers could struggle to keep Dimitri Payet, admits David Gold

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Tom Dutton4 July 2016

West Ham co-owner David Gold has conceded the club may struggle to keep Dimitri Payet from joining one of Europe's biggest sides this summer.

Payet has starred for France at Euro 2016 and added his third goal of the tournament on Sunday as Les Bleus beat Iceland 5-2 to reach Thursday's semi-final.

It comes after an impressive debut campaign at Upton Park, which followed his £10.7million move from Marseille 12 months ago.

The 29-year-old scored nine goals in 29 Premier League starts during an injury-hit campaign and was crowned Hammer of the Year at the club's end of season awards evening.

Payet's form has caught the attention of both Real Madrid and Chelsea and while the player's agent does not expect him to leave West Ham, Gold believes the Hammers could struggle to ward off Europe's elite.

“We’ll fight tooth and nail to make sure Dimitri pulls on a claret and blue shirt next season," the West Ham chief told The Sun.

“We want to improve our squad and Dimitri is an integral part of what we’re trying to do. But we also must be realistic. If Barcelona or Real Madrid made a bid and he wanted to move there, it would be difficult to keep him.

“You can’t have a great player like Dimitri and expect no one to make a bid, especially with the performances he’s producing at the Euros.

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