West Ham United have been dealt a setback in their bid to bring Lucas Digne to the London Stadium in the January transfer window.

What's the talk?

That's according to a claim made by talkSPORT journalist Alex Crook, who stated in a recent post on Twitter that, despite the left-back appearing to be close to leaving Everton this month, the 28-year-old's wage demands are believed to be an issue in West Ham's move for the defender.

In his tweet, Crook said: "Digne edging closer to EFC exit... wage demands are an issue for WHUFC."

Fans will be fuming

Considering just how impressive Digne has been since his £18m move to Everton back in 2018, the news that West Ham could be set to miss out on a deal for the left-back as a result of his wage demands is sure to leave the London Stadium faithful fuming.

Indeed, the £27m-rated Frenchman has been a continual threat for the Toffees since joining the club, scoring four goals, registering four assists and creating a whopping 13 big chances over his 35 Premier League appearances back in 2018/19. Those returns earned him an excellent seasonal SofaScore match rating of 7.33 in his debut campaign with the Blues.

The £110k-per-week defender has subsequently followed up these returns by providing seven assists, creating eight big chances and averaging a SofaScore match rating of 7.15 over his 35 league outings in 2019/20; before registering seven assists, creating 11 big chances and averaging a SofaScore match rating of 7.13 over his 30 Premier League fixtures last term.

As such, it is clear to see that the 28-year-old would make a fantastic addition to David Moyes' options on the left-hand side of his defence at the London Stadium, especially for a reported transfer fee of just £30m.

Also, when taking into account that the Hammers are currently paying the ineffective Andriy Yarmolenko a princely £115k-per-week, surely it would be well worth affording the Frenchman parity with this salary considering his remarkable returns from left-back so far in his Premier League career.

In other news: "Negotiations have been ongoing": ExWHUEmployee drops January update which will leave Hammers fans buzzing