Mourinho told West Ham to poach Clarke from Chelsea

Chelsea's determination to prevent their assistant first-team coach, Steve Clarke, from joining West Ham is likely to be strengthened after if emerged that Jose Mourinho had recommended the Scot to Gianfranco Zola, the new manager at Upton Park.
Mourinho and Clarke enjoyed a fruitful partnership during their three years at Stamford Bridge and the Portuguese has told Zola to make Clarke's appointment as his assistant a priority. Zola and Mourinho spoke on the phone shortly after the Italian was confirmed as Alan Curbishley's replacement on Thursday.
Zola played with Clarke during his seven-year spell at Chelsea but has no experience of him as a coach. So he turned to Mourinho, who promoted Clarke from youth-team coach to his assistant after becoming Chelsea's manager in June 2004. They won two Premier League titles, one FA Cup and two League Cups.
Mourinho, now at Internazionale, believes Zola would receive the same support and high-level coaching from Clarke as he enjoyed at Chelsea. Zola has told West Ham's chief executive, Scott Duxbury, to continue the pursuit of Clarke despite the feud it has created with his former employers.
News of Mourinho's intervention will no doubt infuriate Chelsea officials, who are making it as difficult as possible for Clarke to leave. The former full-back's resignation was rejected on Friday before Chelsea, having agreed over the weekend to allow the 45-year-old to move, informed West Ham it will cost them £5m.
That demand has bewildered the hierarchy at Upton Park because Clarke has just two years to run on his £600,000-a-year contract and has been marginalised at Chelsea since Mourinho departed. They also see it as disrespectful to a man who has given the club almost 20 years' service and wants a new challenge. West Ham are happy to pay compensation but are not willing to go higher than £1m and are prepared to take Chelsea to court.