Olympique Marseille president Vincent Labrune has defended the decision to sell Dimitri Payet to West Ham United.

Labrune has claimed the Upton Park club have upped their offer every week in the last month to £14m as they bid to sign the playmaker – and offered personal terms more than the French club can afford.

He told L'Equipe: “You need to know that we don't want to sell Dimitri Payet.

"But the player and his agent have been talking to West Ham for a while and they have an offer which we cannot match. Now they have this offer, they want a considerable rise to stay at Marseille. It would mean an €18m (£12.8m) investment for Marseille.

"No-one in France, apart from PSG, can give this to a player. They are asking for the biggest gross salary in the history of Marseille.

"You cannot play in France with the salary of a star of the Premier League. It is impossible for us.

"For a long time, we refused all West Ham's offers. For the last month, we have had one every week. If we have accepted the offer, it is to put Dimitri Payet and his agents on the spot.

"They can now the choice between money and go to England or make the choice of staying at Marseille.

“The ball is in his court and his agent's. If they want to leave and take the money, that is up to them. But in football, we know very well that it is the players who decide and not the clubs."