West Ham were not able to agree an option to buy at a fixed transfer fee at the end of the six-month loan for Joao Mario.

Although they tried to add a clause for an option to buy for between £26m to £30m Inter Milan refused to budge insisting that they wanted to recover the full £39.5m they paid with add-ons for the former Sporting Lisbon midfielder in 2016.

Reports from Italy have suggested there is no option to buy in place and a club insider today confirmed those claims are correct and no clause exists in the contract.

West Ham will pay the players full wages for the next five months until June and will pay Inter a loan fee as well a six-figure sum to the agents.

The final bill will top close to £4m but West Ham believe they would be able to strike a deal with the Italian club if Mario’s loan is successful.