Slaven Bilic has revealed he sent Dimitri Payet a goodluck text before France's opening match at the European Championships.
Payet joined West Ham from Marseille last summer in a £11.25m deal and he went on to produce a string of stellar performances that helped them to qualify for next season's Europa League.
The 29-year-old was on the fringes of Les Blues' squad for several years but his incredible exploits with the Hammers in the Premier League earned him a recall, and he repaid the faith by netting the winner against Romania on Friday night.
Hammers boss Bilic, who is working as a pundit during the tournament, revealed that he sent a message of encouragement to his star midfielder before the match.
"Before France played Romania on Friday night, I texted Dimitri Payet to wish him all the best" former Croatia manager Bilic told the "?Daily Mail.
"The text read: 'Enjoy it, you have nothing to prove, you are the best player there.
"I wasn't wrong was I? He was fantastic, not only with his late match-winning goal but overall France were playing everything through him.
"He got his chance because of his brilliant season at West Ham. We are proud he is at our club - and, yes, he has a long contract!"
Despite missing two months of the season through injury, Payet still grabbed nine goals and registered 12 assists in 30 top-flight appearances.
The silky play-maker was rewarded with a bumper new contract in February to stave off interest from other parties, but his club boss insists he is happy in East London.
"Some will say it's a double-edged sword for West Ham, and myself and that if Dimitri continues to play like that, there will be other big clubs circling" Bilic continued.
"I don't think about though. We are so proud to have him and apart from Luka Modric, or someone else from the Croatia team, I would like nothing better than if he was the player of the tournament.
"After that, what happens, happens but we know he is happy at West Ham."
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