West Ham sign Payet from Marseille

LONDON (Reuters) - West Ham United have signed attacking midfielder Dimitri Payet from Olympique de Marseille on a five-year deal for at least 10 million pounds, the club said on Friday. The 28-year-old France international joins the London club for an undisclosed fee but West Ham confirmed it was at least eight figures. Payet is West Ham’s third close-season recruit following the captures of Spanish midfielder Pedro Obiang and Ireland goalkeeper Darren Randolph. “West Ham really showed me that they wanted me to come," Payet told the club website. "That’s very important for me. I was also keen to sign up to a clear project. West Ham’s is very interesting and matches perfectly with my ambitions." A creative playmaker, Payet chalked up an impressive 17 assists in 36 league games for Marseille last season, netting seven goals in the process. He brings European experience to West Ham having played a total of 15 times in the Champions League, with the London club set to begin their Europa League campaign on July 2. The Frenchman said West Ham's new coach Slaven Bilic had played a key role in luring him to the club. “Firstly I spoke with the manager, who really wished for me to come here and had been watching me a lot," Payet said. "He made it clear that he wanted me to sign and that too was important in my choice... “I’m very happy to be here. It’s true that it’s taken a little while but that’s normal, negotiations are like that. But now that it’s done, I’m very happy." (Reporting by Toby Davis,; editing by Pritha Sarkar)