West Ham boss Slaven Bilic insists they will only sell Dimitri Payet for the "best possible price".
Marseille are expected make another bid, this time of £25million, before the end of the week but West Ham are holding out for £30million for the wantaway Frenchman.
Bilic said: "Dimi took his stance clearly. We took our stand very clearly and it stays the same, we are not going to sell our best players on the cheap just because someone wants to sign them or even because they want to go home.
"I always like to solve the situations in-house but sometimes it's impossible. You have to draw the line to protect the team, there's nothing more important than the team.
"I'm sad the situation has happened. It's not good for anyone, for him, the club, it's not good for football in general but it's happened, it's not the first time, it's not the last time.
"We know the market, we know how good or great he is as a player. Like everybody he has his price."
Firing a message to Marseille, he added: "The ball is in their court. They are the ones who expressed interest. Now they should act."