West Ham manager Gianfranco Zola has reacted with bemusement to the club's apparent bid for West Bromwich Albion midfielder Graham Dorrans, claiming that he had no idea an offer was set to be made.
It was revealed earlier this week that a £4million bid for the Scottish midfielder has been rejected by Albion, who recently confirmed their return to the Premier League. However Zola - who both David Gold and David Sullivan have suggested this week is considering resigning from his post - confirmed today that he had not been involved in the procedure.When asked if he had been consulted about the bid for Dorrans, Zola said: "No, I just found out in the newspaper, which was quite a surprise. I know he's a good player, I know he's had a very good season but i didn't know the club was interested in him. The point is that I didn't know anything about it. He's a good player but I'm not prepared to say whether he's in my interests for the next year."
Last weekend, following the win over Wigan which all but assured West Ham of their Premier League status next season joint Chairman David Gold hinted that all may not be well with Zola himself, telling Sky Sports that "Franco might be telling us it's time for a change". On Wednesday fellow joint chairman David Sullivan told the Daily Telegraph "he did indicate he might resign at the end of the season" and that "In interviews he has not committed his future to the club beyond the end of the season".
But Zola has refused to be drawn on the issue, preferring instead to keep his own counsel. When asked today whether he was set to leave the club at the end of the season, the Italian replied: "I said that I would talk about my future at the end of the season and the season is not over yet. I'm not prepared to talk about my future until then."
But he was rather more forthcoming when replying to Sullivan's recent comment regarding putting the entire squad bar Scott Parker up for sale. "Well if I was Mark Noble, if I was Robert Green or Valon Behrami, I wouldn't be very pleased to listen to that," he said. "So what can I make of that? It's not pleasant, you don't want to hear that - but that's the way it goes."
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