Amid all the huge transfer sagas of the summer, it feels weird in retrospect that Dimitri Payet ended up staying with West Ham United.
One of the best players of the last Premier League season and the star of the Euro 2016 group stage, the Frenchman had been strongly linked with a move to Real Madrid.
But then he injured Cristiano Ronaldo in the final of the international tournament and – while we’re not saying Cristiano told his employers Payet was persona non grata in the Spanish capital – it’s certainly a coincidence that the speculation died down.
Fast forward to August, Payet is still at West Ham and he’s still taking the piss in the way that only he can.
He made his first start of the new season at home to Watford, and produced two fine assists for two Michail Antonio goals in the opening 33 minutes.
The first was a trademark corner, which Antonio headed in with a little help from Troy Deeney.
And the second…well the second was so good it should carry a NSFW warning. Don’t believe us? Here are the only stills you need.
A Cruyff turn to take out one defender, followed by a rabona to take out another three? You spoil us, Dimitri.
Everyone watching was left pretty much dumfounded, but we think Rio Ferdinand’s response said it all.
Rio Ferdinand on Payet rabona: "This is illegal. It must be."
— Gary Al-Smith (@garyalsmith) September 10, 2016
We can only assume West Ham’s players were similarly stunned, as they had their 2-0 lead turned into a 4-2 deficit just after the hour mark.
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