Gianfranco Zola wanted by West Ham to replace Alan Curbishley as manager

Gianfranco Zola has told West Ham he is willing to become their new manager after he was approached by the club last night.

The former Chelsea star is on a short-list of six foreign names to succeed Alan Curbishley.

Croatia boss Slaven Bilic is also still in the running along with former Liverpool and France boss Gerard Houllier and Roberto Mancini and Roberto Donadoni.

After a conference call among the Upton Park board yesterday, Italian technical director Gianluca Nani has the urgent task of establishing the availability of the candidates.

It appears inevitable the club will appoint their first foreign manager in their 113-year history.

Zola, 42, has said he is interested in returning to English football after becoming a Chelsea legend in his seven years at Stamford Bridge.

He is assistant to another former Chelsea player, Pierluigi Casiraghi, with the Italian Under-21s.

Former West Ham player Bilic, who faces England in a World Cup qualifier on Wednesday, said: "We are playing Kazakhstan at weekend and are concentrating on that game."

Bilic earns £81,000 a year - less than Freddie Ljungberg earned at Upton Park in a week - and has expressed his desire to work one day in the Premier League.

West Ham will approach him to establish whether he is interested - but Croatia FA president Valtko Markovic said: "It is mission impossible. It can't happen because he is under contract and would cause a big political storm in Croatia."

The Irons, who stress Bilic is not the No.1 candidate, want a new manager in place by the time they face West Brom on September 13.

Mancini is still in a £20million contract dispute with former club Inter Milan when he was sacked to make way for Jose Mourinho and taking any job would jeopardise his case.

Houllier, 61, is still available after leaving French champions Lyon last summer.

England U-21 boss Stuart Pearce ruled himself out of the running before tonight's game against Portugal.

Curbishley has put in a £2m claim for breach of contract against West Ham.

Find out what our resident Premier League fan bloggers think - and let them know your views

Think you can outwit our Football Pools experts John Barnes, Tony Cascarino and Graham Poll? Then have a crack at the Football Pools

Follow every Premier League game live with our brilliant Match Tracker