Former West Ham, Tottenham and QPR boss Harry Redknapp would be open to a return to the Hammers as sporting director in a partnership with Rio Ferdinand as manager. In an interview with Kicca, Redknapp said: "I'd like to see him as manager of West Ham. I'd go with him as director of football - that would be a good partnership.

"I'd love to see him get the opportunity somewhere. He's young and enthusiastic, and there have been a lot of lads who have gone straight into management. Gary Monk's done fantastic at Swansea, for example.

"Rio's doing his coaching badges and has got a great football brain. I used to talk to him a lot at QPR, he'd be on the bench and I'd ask his opinion, and he always had good ideas and read the game well."

Redknapp also suggested Paolo Di Canio could be a good appointment as the new West Ham boss.

"I'm also a Di Canio fan and I'd like to see him go back to West Ham," he said.

"I know everybody's slaughtered him but he was fantastic at Swindon. I spoke to a lad who played under him at Swindon, Bournemouth's Matt Ritchie, and he said he was fantastic to play for.

"He had a great start at Sunderland but it's been a hard place to succeed. Martin O'Neill, Steve Bruce, one after the other, they've all had a crack at it.

"Paulo set high standards with the way he wanted players to behave, live, train, eat and a lot of players don't want to be as dedicated as he was to the game."