Exclusive: Chelsea demand £5m compensation from West Ham for Steve Clarke

WEST HAM are staggered by Chelsea's demand for £5million to compensate the Blues for the defection of assistant manager Steve Clarke.

The clubs have failed to resolve the dispute over Clarke's compensation package.

The 45-year-old coach met Stamford Bridge manager Luiz Felipe Scolari last week to explain his wish to join up with old friend Gianfranco Zola in the new management team at Upton Park.

On Friday Clarke formally quit his post - but Chelsea refused to accept his resignation and have sent him home on gardening leave.

A West Ham insider said: "We're staggered by Chelsea's excessive demands for compensation for a person who's been so loyal to them.

"We hope we can resolve the issue in a reasonable manner. We're also confused by the fact that Scolari has been widely quoted accepting that Steve has moved on, yet the Chelsea hierarchy say he remains their employee."

New Hammers boss Zola has made it clear he sees Clarke as an integral part of his back-room team.

Yet under Scolari Clarke had seen his duties on the coaching ground and on match days severely cut back.

The source went on: "In many way this isn't a West Ham-Chelsea dispute. It's about Steve and how he's being treated by Chelsea.

"It's incredible, given Steve's wish to move on and explanation to all the parties about why he wanted to leave, that he's being treated like this.

"It just doesn't make any sense. This is a guy who's spent the best part of 21 years of his working life at Stamford Bridge - with a two-year break at Newcastle. He's been a Chelsea player and coach since 1987.

"You'd think they would recognise his wish to leave and wish him all the best.

"Instead he's going through all this from a club that threw about £5m at Avram Grant and £3m at Henk Ten Cate last season after they'd failed."

Clarke is believed to be paid about £600,000 a year by Chelsea. He has 21 months to run on his contract, so West Ham were prepared to pay about £1m in compensation. But it's understood that Chelsea have been demanding about £5m - and that has created the row between London's East End and West End clubs.

Clarke was recruited as a right-back from St Mirren in February 1987 during John Hollins's managerial reign at the Bridge. He left the club to become Ruud Gullit's assistant manager at Newcastle in 1998.

But he returned to be part of Chelsea's academy staff and was eventually promoted to assistant manager by Jose Mourinho.