MOTHERWELL'S hopes of extending Estonian hotshot Henri Anier's loan spell until the end of the season look to be fading.

The 23-year-old has scored seven goals in 19 Premiership appearances and formed an impressive partnership with Well top scorer John Sutton.

But the Viking Stavanger striker's loan spell at Fir Park ends on January 16, and the Norwegian club have now given the first indication they are not willing to agree an extension of his loan, but would prefer a severance deal.

Viking director Arne Larsen Okland has admitted his side have opened negotiations with Well, but says Anier will only remain at Fir Park if a fee is involved.

Okland said: "We are in talks with both Henri and Motherwell. We are positive if he wants to leave, but only if someone wants to buy him. We do not want to loan him away any more, we want a permanent solution.

"However, it is unlikely Motherwell, a club that already is having issues with the economy, is in any condition to pay a transfer fee for Anier."

When it comes to letting Anier go for free Okland was nonplussed.

The Viking Stavanger spokesman said: "This is something we have not discussed yet."

Well are desperate to extend Anier's loan spell on the same terms as his current temporary deal, meaning that Viking will have to keep paying a significant part of Anier's salary until his contract expires later this year.

However, with the Fir Park side's disastrous exit from the William Hill Scottish Cup at the hands of Albion Rovers in the fourth round, the Lanarkshire club have been robbed of a potentially-lucrative source of revenue.

While Okland admits that negotiations with Well are ongoing, he refused to go into detail.

The Viking director said: "I know that Motherwell hope to reach an agreement with Henri, and they are negotiating with him in full compliance with us.

"But we still haven't made any deal whatsoever with Motherwell, but we do have a common understanding of where we stand.

"We have been speaking to Motherwell since Henri went there last summer, but I do not wish to go into detail about the conversations."

Motherwell manager Stuart McCall said: "We have a little bit of time with Henri still with us until January 16.

"I am not worried and I will leave it with our chief executive Leeann Dempster and hopefully we can get it done."

While the deal for Anier hangs in the balance, Motherwell announced winger Lionel Ainsworth's deal has been extended until the end of the season.

The Rotherham man said: "I would love to be settled and to carry on playing where I am."

Meanwhile, Well will hold a precautionary pitch inspection at 8am today ahead of the lunchtime visit of Inverness Caley.