Clarke Takes Pay Cut to Join Zola

Steve Clarke will begin work as Gianfranco Zola's No2 at West Ham United this morning having secured his release from Chelsea after protracted and occasionally strained talks between the clubs finally resulted in a compromise over compensation last night.

West Ham will pay about £1m to secure the Scot, who has severed a 20-year association with the Stamford Bridge club to move across the capital. Clarke had been Zola's preferred choice and had suggested his former club-mate at his interview last week, only for Chelsea's board to block the 45-year-old's appointment and turn down his resignation request.

The Chelsea manager, Luiz Felipe Scolari, had still hoped to persuade him to remain in position as assistant first-team coach - he had two years to run on a contract worth a basic £600,000-a-year - and even suggested he might offer him new responsibilities at the club, but Clarke was determined to pursue a fresh challenge alongside Zola.

He has signed a three-year contract and taken what amounts to a considerable pay cut. His new deal is worth about £400,000-a-year but he will take up his duties in training at Chadwell Heath today.

"We are very pleased to welcome Steve Clarke to the club," said the West Ham chief executive, Scott Duxbury. "Steve is rightly regarded as one of the top coaches in Europe and his experience and knowledge will be a huge asset to us. He recognises what we are trying to achieve at West Ham United and wants to be a part of that. We have worked very hard to bring him on board and are confident we now have the perfect coaching team."

Zola, flanked by his new fitness coach Antonio Pintus, who worked at Stamford Bridge when Gianluca Vialli was Chelsea manager, oversaw his first session yesterday, having watched Saturday's 3-2 defeat at West Bromwich Albion from the stands. His first game will be this Saturday's visit of managerless Newcastle United. Kevin Keen, the Hammers' reserve team coach who took charge at The Hawthorns, is staying at the club.

Clarke's departure from Chelsea represents something of a blow, particularly as the Scot was close to the British contingent of players in the dressing room, and his presence had provided some level of continuity through the successive regimes of Claudio Ranieri, Jose Mourinho, Avram Grant and now Scolari.

The Brazilian brought his own staff with him in the summer and Clarke is understood to have felt marginalized and his duties had been reduced. Chelsea have no plans as yet to replace him.