West Ham manager Gianfranco Zola today said that he will not be forced into selling his best players in the January transfer window, despite owner and chairman Bjorgolfur Gudmundsson's financial problems.

Gudmundsson is rumoured to have lost more than £200million as a result of the credit crunch following the collapse of Icelandic bank Landsbanki but Zola said that: "We are absolutely not looking to sell our best players. I have been told that is the situation."

Despite their problems, though, West Ham are still being linked with Ghanaian star Stephen Appiah, who is a free agent after leaving Turkish club Fenerbahce.

Appiah, 27, is currently training at Brescia, West Ham's technical director Gianluca Nani's previous club in Italy.

Zola, meanwhile, is hoping to build on last weekend's goalless draw with Portsmouth against Sunderland on Sunday.

"The clean sheet last weekend against Portsmouth was very important to morale," he said.