Lucas Neill is set to leave West Ham United following the breakdown of final talks over a new contract, when his current two-and-a-half-year deal expires at the end of the month.

The captain had hoped to reach agreement after the club's last game of the Premier League season against Middlesbrough. But to Neill's disappointment the offer which was put forward by West Ham's CEO, Scott Duxbury, and the technical director, Gianluca Nani, had not altered from that at the previous meeting. They wanted the 31-year-old to take a cut of more than 50% on his £60,000-a-week wage and that remained unacceptable.

Neill is now resigned to leaving, although he will put on hold the search for a new club until after international duty with Australia. They have three World Cup qualifiers this month – away to Qatar and then at home against Bahrain and Japan – and they require one point to ensure safe passage to the finals in South Africa next summer.