Zheng has been linked to a number of English sides including Newcastle, Birmingham and former club Charlton in recent weeks.

However, Shandong deputy manager Han Gongzheng reckons the 26 year-old's chances of joining a Premier League team are slim.

He was quoted on Sina.com as saying: "There has not been any progress with regards to Zheng's transfer to an English club.

"The focus now is to help him find a suitable team but it is getting more difficult by the day given the timeframe we have."