West Ham United boss Gianfranco Zola is confident Guillermo Franco can make an impact.

The free transfer from Villarreal is yet to make an impression, but Zola told whufc.com he could form a lethal combination with Carlton Cole: "They could do a good partnership. It depends on the conditions and the circumstances. Guillermo is a very intelligent player. He is very skilful when he has to link up with the midfielders, while Coley is a finisher so I think they can play very well together.

"Carlton needs players to play off him. He has the quality to play up there on his own but the plan is to have people joining him at the last minute. It worked very well last year because of David Di Michele and the players making runs close to him. Franco can play more or less the same way Di Michele used to - so it can work."