West Ham offer Fredrik Ljungberg £3m to tear up contract

Club want to make economies by cutting ties with Sweden midfield player who has three years left on his contract at £75,000 a week

West Ham United have offered Fredrik Ljungberg £3million to leave Upton Park after one season. The Barclays Premier League club decided to rein in their transfer spending earlier in the season and are keen to reduce their wage bill. The Sweden midfield player has three years remaining on the four-year contract he signed when he joined the club from Arsenal last summer. The compensation package is less than his salary of about £3.9million a year - £75,000 a week.

Ljungberg, 31, has made 25 league appearances this season but has not been able to recapture the goalscoring knack he had several seasons ago. The loss of some of his pace, the lack of a creative midfield player and West Ham's regimented style have contributed to him scoring only twice this season. He suffered a cracked rib in the 2-2 draw against Newcastle United two weeks ago.

West Ham could make similar compensation offers to Lucas Neill and Luís Boa Morte, the forward, who are among the higher-earning players. The club have been looking for a new right back to replace Neill, the Australia player who earns about £65,000 a week and has a year left on his contract. West Ham released Roy Carroll, the goalkeeper, in similar fashion last summer.

The offer of payoffs to players is not unusual, but it is extraordinary after only one year. Players are not obliged to accept the proposal, but if they do so they can move as a free agent to another club. Winston Bogarde sat out his four-year contract at Chelsea, where he earned £40,000 a week, and refused to accept compensation to leave. The former Holland defender made 12 appearances, only four of them starts, effectively earning £693,000 per appearance. He spent much of his time training with the youth team.

Source: The Times