West Ham United hope to have found some new financial stability.

The Daily Mail says the Hammers hope the club will be stabilised for the rest of the season by a nine-month extension of the moratorium on debt repayments owed by the club's owners Straumur.

The Icelandic bank, which inherited ownership of the London club following former chairman Bjorgolfur Gudmundsson's financial breakdown, is itself bankrupt and facing a winding-up order but is likely to be granted a moratorium extension until September - much to the relief of those in charge at the club.

The Hammers hope the development will undermine the perception that manager Gianfranco Zola will be forced to sell in the January transfer window, with Liverpool and Manchester United among several clubs monitoring England striker Carlton Cole.