David Gold could launch a bid for West Ham after agreeing to sell his stake in Birmingham City to Hong Kong businessman Carsen Yeung.

Gold was linked with the Hammers last week, having once owned 30 per cent of the club with business partner David Sullivan.

At the time he said the speculation was "not surprising", adding when pressed on the matter, "you can understand how difficult it is for me, I'm sure, to talk about this".

Now, though, the way is clear for Gold to make a bid after he and Sullivan, who jointly own 50 per cent of Birmingham, accepted a £40.75m offer to sell their stake to Yeung.

West Ham are owned by asset management company CB Holding, a business set up by the major creditors of former owner Bjorgolfur Gudmundsson after he fell heavily into debt.

In June, CB Holdings said it intended to sell the club once the financial markets recovered and a reasonable price could be found.

Meanwhile, West Ham full-back Herita Ilunga could be out for more than a month after fracturing his jaw in the 2-0 win over Wolves.

United States international Jonathan Spector is expected to replace him against Tottenham on Sunday.

The sides should at least be familiar with each other, having met in the pre-season Barclays Asia Cup last month with Spurs winning 1-0.

West Ham boss Gianfranco Zola said: "I took a lot away from that game. I don't view it negatively at all because I was able to identify some problems and we have been working to put them right.

"Sunday's match will be a different story. We know that Tottenham are full of confidence but we are optimistic that the result can go in our favour this time."

Radoslav Kovac, signed permanently from Spartak Moscow following a loan spell last season, played in a special practice match at Watford on Wednesday and Zola is delighted the midfielder has returned.

"It has been great to have Radoslav back," he said. "He was an important player for us last season with his experience. He is a wonderful character around the training ground and we are so pleased to have him with us once more."