Former West Ham United defender Rio Ferdinand has stated that the exiled talisman Dimitri Payet needs to show respect to both the clubs and to the fans.

Owe it to the club

Payet's situation has proven quite the fiasco down at the London Stadium since manager Slaven Bilic revealed that the Frenchman is refusing to play or train with the first-team as he tried to push for a move away from Stratford.

The Hammers have rejected numerous bids from the attacking midfielder's old club Marseille, and despite returning to training with the U23's the whole situation has turned sour.

It would be fair to say that West Ham have given Payet the platform to shine in England, and Ferdinand - who started his career at the Hammers - believes that Payet needs to show the club some respect.

"What should West Ham do with him? It is not a difficult one,” Ferdinand told The Guardian. “I look at it from when I played football."

"I would never have said: ‘I am not playing.'," he stated. "I had problems at football clubs at different times."

The ex-defender continued: "At Manchester United I had problems with the club at various times. With certain people, but it never entered my mind not to play."

“You owe it to the club and the fans," he stressed. "Especially where he came from before he got to West Ham."

"They gave him the platform to play at the Euros last summer they gave him a platform to get a new contract," the 38-year-old affirmed. "To become a player that is known in the football world, and you have to respect that.”

Ferdinand concluded: "A lot of them would give their right arm to play for West Ham. And would not understand how a player could say he would not play."

Heading the race

It seems that the club are already preparing for life without the 29-year-old, as it is reported that they have had an improved bid accepted by Hull City for Scottish international Robert Snodgrass.

A £3 million bid was rejected earlier in the month, but a bid of around £10 million has reportedly been accepted by the club along with additional bids from Burnley and another one from Middlesbrough.

It is expected that the Hammers are the front-runners for the deal, with the club able to offer higher wages for Snodgrass.

West Ham United will take on Manchester City at the London Stadium on Wednesday, February 1 with kick-off at 7:45pm GMT.

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Danial  Kennedy
Award-winning sports journalism graduate. Currently studying a PR Masters at the University of Sunderland. Writing for VAVEL since August 2014. Twitter - @ddkjournalism.