Dimitri Payet has claimed Tottenham Hotspur Stadium is an "asset" to Antonio Conte and his team ahead of the Champions League game against Marseille. A player Spurs fans are very familiar with following his 18 months in the Premier League with West Ham, the Frenchman is back in the capital and will lead the Ligue 1 side out in N17 on Wednesday evening.
Playing a starring role for the Hammers prior to his departure in January 2017, the 35-year-old knows all about coming up against Tottenham after facing them during his spell in England. However, Tottenham's home looked rather different back then as they were playing at their former White Hart Lane home before their temporary switch to Wembley due to the construction of their new stadium.
"I think it is important to be well acquainted with the intensity of the Premier League. I have played in a few derbies when I was at West Ham and know how intense they are," said Payet in his pre-match press conference at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
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"Also Tottenham have another asset this time around of course because they have this stadium. When I was here a few years ago the stadium wasn't the size it is today. It is significantly bigger, with a lot more fans to support them but it is always a pleasure to come back to London and to play in this wonderful setting."
On Spurs' stadium, he added: "There is the Dortmund Wall isn't there, I suppose behind the goal and when you approach the stadium from the outside and go onto the pitch, yeah it is really exciting. This is probably the charm of the competition. Visiting different stadiums."
Payet was also quizzed about his time at West Ham when speaking to the media. Wowing at Upton Park before his controversial exit midway through the 2016/17 campaign, the Frenchman has opened on the "pretty brutal break" and why he doesn't have any regrets about his Hammers exit.
"Sure, the Premier League helped me to realise a dream, I suppose. To play in the Premier League and to play in England because everyone dreams about playing here, particularly now when you look at the teams who are playing in the Premier League, it is getting stronger and stronger and a really tough league to play in," he explained.
"I spent 18 months full of emotions, excitement after Euro 2016 but no I don't have any regrets. It was a choice I made, a personal choice and a family-based choice as well. Since I left West Ham I have stayed at Marseille, I haven't gone to any other club and don't intend on going to any other club, so it wasn't leaving for the sake of leaving.
"It was a personal decision, a family decision and yeah, it was a pretty brutal break I suppose when I left, that's true, but I hope over the course of the years West Ham fans have come to understand why I left, I would certainly like and hope to think that."
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