Gianfranco Zola wants a pay-off to leave West Ham United at the end of the season.

The Guardian says Zola's initial intention had been to leave once West Ham had secured their future in the Premier League but his stance is understood to have shifted over the past week and, rather than walking away and appearing to accept full responsibility for this season's toils, he will now seek a settlement over the remaining two years of a contract worth £1.9m a season.

The Italian's relationship with the co-owners, David Gold and David Sullivan, has been fractious at best. He has become more defiant in part because of the support he has received from the players and is deeply frustrated by Sullivan's comments that all of the squad, bar the midfielder Scott Parker, will be available for sale this summer.