• Italian’s stance has shifted over past week
• Manager will seek settlement of up to £1.9m to leave

Gianfranco Zola is set to leave West Ham United at the end of the season but intends to sit down with the owners to secure a dignified, negotiated exit with a payoff rather than quitting as manager.

Zola’s initial intention had been to leave once West Ham had secured their future in the Premier League but his stance is understood to have shifted over the past week and, rather than walking away and appearing to accept full responsibility for this season’s toils, he will now seek a settlement over the remaining two years of a contract worth £1.9m a season.

The Italian’s relationship with the co-owners, David Gold and David Sullivan, has been fractious at best. He has become more defiant in part because of the support he has received from the players and is deeply frustrated by Sullivan’s comments that all of the squad, bar the midfielder Scott Parker, will be available for sale this summer.

Gold said he hoped Zola would stay as manager after Saturday’s win against Wigan Athletic all but mathematically kept West Ham in the top flight for another season. The co-owner was speaking sincerely but the words put the onus on Zola to quit if he were unhappy and the manager is now less minded to do that.

Gold and Sullivan will meet Zola to discuss his future after the final game of the season on 9 May. “Franco has indicated he doesn’t want to discuss his position until the end of the season and that’s fine by us,” said Sullivan, who has yet to indicate publicly whether he wants Zola to stay on. “We shall ask him what he has in mind, we will see what he wants to do.”

There was an indication that West Ham may well be planning for a future without Zola in the £4m bid the club has made for Graham Dorrans, the West Brom midfielder. This was rejected by Jeremy Peace, the West Brom chairman, who said: “As I have stressed several times since we achieved promotion over two weeks ago our aim now is to retain our core players and try to strengthen our squad around them. I want to make it clear again that Graham Dorrans is not for sale.”

With Zola’s future in doubt any interest in Dorrans would surely have been driven by Gold and Sullivan rather than a manager who might soon be leaving.

Zola came close to resigning at the end of last month when he returned to his native Sardinia to consider his position after a run of six consecutive defeats, which threatened West Ham’s Premier League status. But Zola returned to declare he wanted to stay to help West Ham avoid relegation, and his team collected seven points from the next four games to make the club all but secure. The Italian has had a particularly difficult season, with West Ham’s onfield struggles compounded by fragile finances and the criticism players received from Sullivan, who bought West Ham with Gold in January.

Following West Ham’s 3-1 home defeat by Wolverhampton Wanderers on 23 March Sullivan published an open letter on the club’s website in which he described that performance as “shambolic and pathetic”. This caused Zola an unwanted distraction ahead of the following game with Stoke City, which was lost, prompting the manager’s bout of soul-searching in Sardinia.

West Ham’s difficult season was also reflected by Sullivan insistence that only Parker was not for sale. He said: “Other than Scott Parker, there is not a player we wouldn’t sell if it was the right bid. Scott will not be sold and we will be buying more than we are selling. There will be no fire-selling and we will enhance the squad, not diminish it. We will have to shake up the pack because there is no point kidding ourselves otherwise we will be in the same position next year – the table doesn’t lie.”

Hesaid although Matthew Upson would be offered a new contract, his England colleagues Robert Green and Carlton Cole would not. “We’ll make [Upson] a proposal for a new three-year contract. We would give him an offer of a comparable level to what he is on now. But Upson has a year to go so if we get a good offer we will take it.”

Gianfranco ZolaWest Ham UnitedPremier LeagueDominic FifieldJamie Jacksonguardian.co.uk

Is there no end to the ludicrous outside influences on Liverpool’s season? Not content with a beach ball, the Icelandic volcanic cloud has now disrupted Rafael Benítez’s campaign by preventing Fernando Torres from returning to Spain for a final check-up on his dodgy knee. Without the all-clear from the specialist who operated on the joint in January, Torres will be absent against West Ham on Monday and Liverpool reliant on discovering the cutting edge that was painfully lacking against Fulham without him. Gianfranco Zola would be well advised to copy Roy Hodgson’s tactics at Anfield, however soul-destroying. Andy Hunter

Venue Anfield, Monday 8pm

Tickets Sold out

Last season Liverpool 0 West Ham 0

Referee P Walton

This season’s matches 23 Y58, R4, 2.70 cards per game

Odds Liverpool 2-5 West Ham 10-1 Draw 4-1

Liverpool

Subs from Cavalieri, Benayoun, Kuyt, Lucas, Degen, Darby, Ayala, Torres, Pacheco, Plessis, El Zhar

Doubtful Torres (knee)

Injured Aurélio (thigh, 24 Apr), Insúa (knee, 24 Apr), Skrtel (foot, 24 Apr), Kelly (knee, Aug)

Suspended None

Form guide DDWLWL

Disciplinary record Y47 R2

Leading scorer Torres 18

West Ham

Subs from Kurucz, Stech, Gabbidon, Dyer, Franco, Mido, McCarthy, Ilunga, Collison, Daprela, Spence, Stanislas

Doubtful Collison (knee), Dyer (hamstring), Ilunga (calf)

Injured Tomkins (ankle, 24 Apr), Boa Morte (knee, Aug), Hines (knee, Aug)

Suspended Parker (last of two)

Form guide WDLLLL

Disciplinary record Y60 R3

Leading scorer Cole 9

Match pointers

• Liverpool have won nine of their last 11 Premier League meetings with West Ham

• West Ham have scored four goals in 14 Premier League visits to Anfield, the worst ratio of any side to have played there 10 or more times

• Eight of Liverpool’s last 10 top-flight goals have either been scored (six) or assisted (two) by Fernando Torres

• West Ham have not won away since their 2-0 triumph at Wolves on the opening day of the season

• Liverpool have hit the woodwork more times (16) than any other side this season

• West Ham have averaged 1.29 points per game in the league this season with Scott Parker in the side compared to one per game without him

Premier LeagueLiverpoolWest Ham Unitedguardian.co.uk

If West Ham are to capitalise on the gutsy draw at Everton that ended their losing streak they will need to defeat a revived Sunderland side beaten only once in seven matches. The bad news for Gianfranco Zola is that Scott Parker’s yellow card at Goodison was his 10th, which means he is suspended for two games, and without their most influential player West Ham may struggle to overcome Steve Bruce’s newly resilient team. If Darren Bent has another good day and West Ham’s defence continues to make unforced errors Upton Park’s gloom may return. David Lacey

Venue Upton Park, Saturday 3pm

Tickets £35-51 (0871 222 2700)

Last season West Ham 2 Sunderland 0

Referee M Jones

This season’s matches 17 Y55, R1, 3.29 cards per game

Odds West Ham 11-10 Sunderland 14-5 Draw 12-5

West Ham

Subs from Kurucz, Stech, Daprelà, Gabbidon, Mido, Diamanti, McCarthy, Ilunga, Dyer, Tomkins, Stanislas, Franco

Doubtful Collison (knee), Diamanti (groin), Dyer (hamstring), Franco (achilles), Ilunga (knee), Tomkins (ankle)

Injured Boa Morte (knee, Aug), Hines (knee, Aug)

Suspended Parker (first of two)

Form guide DLLLLL

Disciplinary record Y59 R3

Leading scorer Cole 9

Sunderland

Subs from Fulop, Carson, Da Silva, Meyler, Bardsley, Kilgallon, Zenden, Liddle, Jones, Benjani, Reed

Doubtful Cana (groin), Hutton (groin), Turner (achilles/hamstring)

Injured McCartney (hamstring, 17 Apr), Mensah (knee, 24 Apr), Reid (hamstring, May)

Suspended None

Form guide WLDWDW

Disciplinary record Y68 R6

Leading scorer Bent 22

Match pointers

• West Ham have four points fewer after 33 games than they did in 2002-03 – the last time they were relegated

• Sunderland and West Ham have both been awarded nine penalties this season, the joint most along with Chelsea

• West Ham have not lost at home to Sunderland in the top flight since January 2001

• Sunderland have scored 11 goals in the first 15 minutes of games, more than any other side

• Carlton Cole has been booked in five of his six Premier League appearances against Sunderland

Premier LeagueWest Ham UnitedSunderlandguardian.co.uk