Maiga stay at Metz unlikely after relegation

French team Metz were relegated straight back to French Ligue 2 on Saturday as they suffered a crushing 4-0 defeat to Lorient.

Hammer Modibo Maiga joined Metz at the beginning of this season on a one-year loan deal with an option to buy. Maiga signed West Ham for a reported £4.7m from Sochaux scoring 6 goals for the Hammers from 37 appearances.

Metz were thought to paying just £6,000 of Maiga £30,000 per week wages but even that may be too high a fee to pay in Ligue 2. He has one year remaining on his West Ham contract worth around £1.5m in wages. A return to West Ham in the summer looks likely now unless a new loan or permanent deal can be found elsewhere.