Jack Collison has praised his manager at West Ham, Gianfranco Zola, and says he is the man who will turn him into a successful Premier League player.

The England-born Welsh international says Zola's influence has helped him improve greatly and it would be a tragedy if he left the club to take over at Chelsea.

"The boss has been doing one-on-one tuition with me and I am learning from him all of the time," the 20-year old said.

"There's no better player for me to learn from, he was one of the best.

"Gianfranco going is the last thing anyone at West Ham wants.

"He has given us a confidence, he comes into training with a smile on his face and he wants us to enjoy playing football.

"Gianfranco has come in and put a real buzz into the place and no-one wants him to go, he is a really good young manager and things are going really well at West Ham at the moment.

"People may be a little surprised by his impact at West Ham but he played at the very highest level and played under some top managers."