Dimitri Payet

Who is Dimitri Payet?

Florent Dimitri Payet is a French international footballer who currently plays for French club Olympique de Marseille in Ligue 1. He primarily plays as an attacking midfielder and a winger and is described as a player who is "quick" and "blessed with terrific technique and dribbling skills".

Payet was born on the island of Réunion and began his career on the island playing for local clubs Saint-Philippe and Saint-Pierroise. In 1999, he moved to metropolitan France joining Le Havre. Payet spent four years at the club before returning to Réunion where he spent two years playing for AS Excelsior in the Réunion Premier League. In 2005, he joined Nantes and, after a successful 2006–07 season, joined Saint-Étienne on a four-year contract. With Saint-Étienne, Payet played in European competition for the first time after featuring in the 2008–09 edition of the UEFA Cup. In the 2010–11 season, he won the UNFP Player of the Month award for September after scoring three goals and helping Saint-Étienne reach first place in the league table. Following the season, in June 2011, Payet joined the defending champions Lille signing a four-year contract.

Payet is a French international. Through 2006–2008, he played on the France under-21 team making over ten appearances. In 2010, he was called up to the senior team by manager Laurent Blanc for the first time. Payet made his international debut on 9 October 2010 in a UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying match against Romania appearing as a substitute.