I played with Dimitri Payet but forgotten West Ham man was the best free-kick taker I've seen

09/04/2024 02:26 PM

Dimirti Payet is widely considered one of the best free-kick takers in Premier League history, but a forgotten teammate has been ranked even more highly.

Payet only played in England for two seasons from 2015 to 2017, but absolutely lit up the top flight with a number of moments that live long in the memory.

Among a number of outrageous moments of skill, the Frenchman fired in 15 goals, five of which were unstoppable free-kicks.

Payet continued boosting his reputation as a dead-ball god in France with Marseille, but former Hammers teammate Carl Jenkinson remembers his time in London fondly.

"He was very, very good, technically really good, his delivery from free-kicks and set pieces made him one of the best I've ever seen," Jenkinson told talkSPORT.

However, the former Arsenal man has seen someone better, even at West Ham.

Jenkinson continued: "Funnily enough there was another player at West Ham called Nene, signed on loan, and he was the best free-kick taker I've ever seen.

"He played a few games, not a lot, but he's had a great career playing for PSG, but I remember sitting there in training watching him take about 20 free-kicks and every single one over the wall and in the top corner, I've never seen anything like it.

"He was scary in terms of free-kick taking, I've never seen anything like it."

Nene spent just one season at West Ham in 2014/15, making only eight appearances where he failed to find the back of the net.

However, his time in England takes nothing away from a legendary career in France and Brazil, where he still plays to this day.

In fact, Nene only recently became the oldest scorer in the history of Brazil's top flight, scoring for Juventude against Internacional aged 43 and 26 days on August 15.

Before that he was a regular at Paris Saint-Germain from 2009 to 2012, playing alongside legends like Zlatan Ibrahimovic, David Beckham and Thiago Silva.

Despite Payet and Nene's dead ball prowess, there's still one midfielder that Jenkinson rates above both.

"Santi Cazorla, he was just mustard," the full-back said when asked about the best midfielder he played alongside. 

"With both feet the ball would stick to his feet, he would take corners with his left and right.

“He was quite a diminutive guy, he was tiny, he wasn't quick, but you just couldn't get the ball off of him, he was so good."