West Ham United legend Tony Cottee has hailed the Hammers board after they managed to tie down Dimitri Payet to a new deal recently.

Payet signed a five-and-a-half-year contract with the Hammers last week which will keep him at the club until summer 2021 and Cottee suggests it is a great show of intent by the East London outfit.

Cottee writes in his column for Newham Recorder: "There a lot of football supporters that complain about the huge wages that the players get these days, but I can't imagine any West Ham fan moaning about the salary of Dimitri Payet now he has signed a new deal.

"It is a huge statement of intent by the board and full credit to them by securing the talents of our best player for the next five years.

"Everything is changing with the Hammers. As they move into a new stadium they are moving to a different level and that means keeping your best players.

"Over the last 50 or 60 years, West Ham have been a selling club, but this is now changing. Everyone has their price and I expect there may be a huge buy-out clause in his new contract, but with a five-year deal and that means any team will have to pay an absolute fortune to get him."