West Ham manager Slaven Bilic was delighted to keep hold of Dimitri Payet during the summer transfer window and believes his return to the first team will give the whole team a boost.
The Hammers refused to entertain offers for the Frenchman during the transfer window, slapping a prohibitive £100m pricetag on the man they bought from Marseille for £10m a year earlier.
The France international has made just one Premier League appearance this term following a minor injury in West Ham's opener against Chelsea, but the club expect him to be fit for Watford's visit on Saturday.
“It is key for us if he can produce his best form again," Bilic told West Ham's official website. "He has the qualities that the best players have and can help change a game. They are influencing their team-mates and opponents.
“He makes the team play better and everyone around him is benefitting. The team recognised that last season.”
"It is crucial that he stayed. It's crucial that he comes back fit and that he tries to produce what he was doing last year."
While Payet stayed, West Ham spent more than £40million on additions - a combined fee that could rise if loan signing Simone Zaza triggers a £20million permanent move by making a certain number of league appearances.
And Bilic believes the inflated market is crazy.
West Ham's 2016/17 signings
He added: “It’s a bit too crazy especially if you watch television and you go like how many minutes to go, how many seconds to go, if we break one billion and all that. It’s all crazy but you can’t stop it.
