West Ham will make another move to pay up Modibo Maiga should his loan club Metz decide they don’t want him to stay at the end of the season.
Like Alou Diarra before him – who accepted a pay off deal – there is obviously no way back to the club for the centre forward who has one season left on his Irons deal at the end of this campaign.
ClaretandHugh understands that the £40k a week player was made an offer at the end of last season before Metz took him on loan which would have been worth around £2 million to him had he decided to accept.
And shoud Metz not go ahead with a permanent move the Irons are likely to offer the 27 year old a pay-off fee in the region of £800,000 but will go no higher than £1 million.
A source said: “Whether he accepts or not is dependent on how much confidence he has in finding another club but Metz may well offer a deal.”
Carlton Cole is likely to be allowed to move on in the summer as the club look to make room in the wage budget for new players.