Gianfranco Zola is one of the favourites to take Alan Curbishley's vacant spot as West Ham manager.

The former Chelsea midfielder attended an interview with Hammers chiefs on Saturday and made a good impression on them.

The Italian is in the running for the job alongside compatriot Roberto Donadoni who also impressed the Hammers in an interview on Friday. Slaven Bilic was challenging for the spot as well but his advisors informed West ham he would only be available from January.

Michael Laudrup is another man still in contention and will be interviewed on Monday.

Zola, who is currently the joint coach of Italy's Under-21 side, has years of experience playing in English football which helped his cause when he was interviewed in Rome on Saturday.

A top-level club source said: "Zola not only has impressive credentials but also came across incredibly well in our talks."

West Ham's current director of football Gianluca Nani is Italian which means the likes of Zola and Donadoni might fit in better at Upton Park than Curbishley did.