West Ham agree Payet fee with Marseille

Britain Football Soccer - West Ham United v Manchester United - Premier League - London Stadium - 2/1/17 Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho gestures as West Ham United's Dimitri Payet hugs West Ham United manager Slaven Bilic after he is substituted off Reuters / Eddie Keogh Livepic

LONDON (Reuters) - West Ham United have agreed to sell France forward Dimitri Payet to Olympique de Marseille for 25 million pounds ($31.37 million), the Premier League club announced on Sunday.

Payet, who left Marseille in 2015 to join the London side, is expected to undergo a medical before signing his contract later on Sunday.

The French international made it clear that he wished to return to Marseille in this transfer window and reportedly refused to play against Crystal Palace two weeks ago.

Although West Ham originally said he must stay, they have now agreed to a deal after accepting a fee of almost two and half times what they paid for him.

($1 = 0.7971 pounds)

(Reporting by Julien Pretot in Paris and Steve Tongue in London; Editing by Toby Davis)