Premiership duo Chelsea and West Ham United appear to have come to an agreement over Steve Clarke. Chelsea’s assistant manager Clarke has been the centre of a tug-of-war since he offered his resignation to Chelsea in an attempt to secure his move to West Ham United to partner Gianfranco Zola at Upton Park.
Clarke has spent over 20 years at Stamford Bridge, mainly as the head coach of the team, resigned from his post when Gianfranco Zola was appointed the West Ham United manager. Clarke didn’t hide his intention to join Zola whom he had earlier coached when the former Italian international was playing for the Blues.
That pushed Chelsea and West Ham into a legal battle. Chelsea wanted a compensation of a staggering 4.8 million pounds but the Hammers were initially eager to pay just 600,000 pounds. But it has now been revealed that West Ham have backed down and shall pay Chelsea 1 million pounds in compensation.
Clarke’s loss is going to be a huge one for Chelsea. He has been at Stamford Bridge for over 20 years and has massive influence over the players. Players including Frank Lampard have already expressed their disappointment that they are not going to work with Clarke any longer. Even new Chelsea manager Luiz Felipe Scolari has spoken of his desire to let Clarke continue at Stamford Bridge.
But in football, one’s loss is another’s gain. Now that Gianfranco Zola and Steve Clark have forged a partnership, maybe the Hammers are on the way up!