£6m...That's Ljungberg's reward for being a Premier League flop as Hammers show him the door

Freddie Ljungberg's disastrous spell at Upton Park is over after only 12 months as West Ham agreed to pay a staggering £6million to get him off their spiralling wage billl.

As the full extent of Ljungberg's incredible salary details emerged - he is paid £85,000 a week and had an option for another year if he made just 15 appearances this season - West Ham are still suffering from the aftershock of one of the most expensive mistakes in British football history.

In total, he cost them approximately £13m, taking into account transfer fee, wages and his pay-off - working out at over £500,000 per game, following 25 appearances for the club last season in which he made little impact.

West Ham have yet to announce Ljungberg's departure, but the deal has been agreed and he has been told he is now effectively a free agent. Ljungberg, 31, believes he can still play at the top in England, Italy or Spain and has asked his agent to find him a new club.
The Sweden midfielder was due to earn £8.84m over the next two years at West Ham and initially informed Hammers chief executive Scott Duxbury that he had no intention of reaching a settlement.

Despite being told by manager Alan Curbishley that he would not be playing for the first team this season, the injury-prone midfielder told the club he would sit tight and see out the remaining two years on his mega-bucks deal. He has not been part of the pre-season programme and is understood to be back home in Sweden 'weighing up a number of options'.

It is an incredible fall from grace for Ljungberg. He was a member of Arsenal's 'Invincibles' who won the Premier League in 2004 without losing a game and was recently voted the Gunners' 11th best player of all time.

The Hammers signed him from their London rivals for £3m last summer, but he showed no signs of his Arsenal form and his season ended early when he broke a rib in a collision with Newcastle defender Steven Taylor.

Although Ljungberg recovered to play for Sweden at Euro 2008, he announced his retirement from international football after the tournament in order to prolong his career in the Premier League.

Another of West Ham's injury-prone strikers, Craig Bellamy, faces being out for up to two months after tearing a hamstring in the first half hour of Monday night's 5-3 friendly win at Ipswich.

This setback follows news that Kieron Dyer's long-awaited return has been put back until November because of a stress fracture in the right leg he broke early last season.

However, Bellamy will not face any action following an alleged verbal spat with a female fan at Portman Road.