WEST Ham United boss Slaven Bilic claimed one of his best signings he made this summer was keeping star player Dimitri Payet.

Payet had a fine debut season in the Premier League as he racked up nine goals in 31 appearances.

The 29-year-old also won Euro 2016 Player of the Tournament and Bilic is delighted he remained a Hammer.

Bilic told West Ham TV: “Dimitri has got a quality that he can change the game, he influences the game from his teammates to the opponents and that is everything.

“That is what he does, he is making the team play better and every individual around him is benefiting from him and he knows that.

“The team recognised that from last year and that is why it is a good combination and a good story for us.

“It is crucial of course that he stayed and it is more than that, it is crucial that he comes back fit like he was last year and that he tries to produce the football we remember him for.

“He doesn’t have to score that sort of free-kicks but sometimes it is luck but his ability is there.

“But last year he didn’t do it all by himself, it is about teamwork, he was the cherry on top of the pie.”

The midfielder scored three goals and created two assists and was one of three players who shone at the Championships.

Payet missed the 1-0 victory over Bournemouth in their first home game in the league at the Olympic Stadium.

He also missed the defeats to Chelsea and Manchester City and the Hammers have been dumped out of the Europa League.

“Altogether, Payet was among the three players at the tournament that football was talking about the most,” said Bilic. “It was him, it was Antoine Griezmann and I don’t know it is always Cristiano Ronaldo as it is the Euros.

“Payet deserved it all, it took him on another level and I hope and I think we are going to try to focus on that so it is bigger motivation for him.

“It won’t come by default, like everybody else he has to work hard, but I have no worries because he is 29-years-old, he is matured.

“Now he is sky-high in terms of recognition.”

Bilic will be hoping his main playmaker will be available for selection against Watford at the weekend when the Premier League resumes.

Elsewhere, the Croatian lamented the amount paid by Premier League clubs on transfer deadline Dday.

A whopping £155 million was spent and the summer window outlay reached a record £1.165 billion.

Bilic added: “It is crazy, way too crazy, but it is a big game of fishing, you can’t expect to get a shark with a fishing rod that is used to catch small fish.”