French footballer, Dimitri Payet has been accused of cheating on his wife with a Brazilian lawyer.
The 37-year-old former West Ham star currently plays for Brazilian Serie A side Vasco da Gama having departed Marseille in 2023.
It was gathered that the Frenchman’s wife Ludivine, who is the mother to his four children, travels from France to visit him every three months.
However, social media star Larissa Ferrari, who claims to be a ‘lawyer & Broker in Training’, says she had a seven-month affair with Payet after he got ‘lonely’ while in Rio de Janeiro.
In a lengthy statement, the 28-year-old posted: ‘One thing I want to make clear is that it was never about money. There was no need for it.
‘There’s not much I can say because there’s no explanation or anything to justify it.
‘But one thing I want to make extremely clear is that it was never for money, not before, not now. In fact, the last time I went to Rio, I went by bus.’
Ferrari, who is a mother of two, also claimed that she only got physically involved with the midfielder following her divorce from her ex-husband.
She added: ‘Our intention, initially, wasn’t for us to become so attached to each other, but we ended up getting very involved.
‘We got very close because I got divorced and he gets lonely a lot too. With so much closeness, the meetings became more frequent.
‘I would go to Dimitri’s house every 12 days or so, and stay for three or four days
‘He has also always been very affectionate towards me, both in person and through messages.
‘And with so much affection exchanged, it was impossible not to become attached to each other.’
Ferrari finished her statement by apologising to her family before adding she will stay away from social media for a while to ‘have some peace’.
Payet has been married to Ludivine for almost 20 years.