Portsmouth have granted West Ham United permission to open talks with Avram Grant.

The Guardian says Portsmouth's administrator, Andrew Andronikou, met with Grant last night to discuss his future with the relegated FA Cup finalists, with whom the manager still has two years to run on his contract.

The 55-year-old could not be persuaded to stay and indicated he would favour a move to West Ham, where he is expected to sign a three-year contract worth around £1.3m, after the dismissal of Gianfranco Zola last week.