There has been no fanfare at West Ham. No Arabs arriving, no Robinho arriving and no big money bids on unrealistic targets (mot since they got their hands burnt with Tevezcherano, anyway). And yet it seems their could be a revolution of comparable, if not quite as extravagant magnitude taking place at Upton Park.

Neither has there been a great deal of talk about their director of football, murky as that role remains within England. And yet while every Geordie and his beer gut has been pointing the finger at Dennis Wise for his role in Kevin Keegan´s demise, Gianluca Nani has escaped too much blame for Alan Curbishley’s departure from West Ham. Perhaps Curbishley’s claims to have headhunted the man himself prevented this.

The Italian’s appointment was shrugged off when he took up his role in March this year, although I – and probably many others – took the opportunity to roll out the West Ham sign Nani headlines. God bless Google. The lack of interest was probably due to the fact that nobody in English football knew a great deal about West Ham’s director of football. But say the name Gianfranco Zola, or even Roberto Donadoni, and people are more likely to take notice.

For it now seems almost certain that the Hammers’ new boss will be Italian, and the aforementioned duo are the favourites for the post. Zola is in pole position to take the job, having apparently found some claret to go with the copious amounts of blue he has from his days as a Chelsea legend. It is not coincidence that the two front runners for the West Ham job are both Italian. Remember it is an Italian director of football and not a Portuguese winger pulling the strings behind the scenes!

It now seems that Nani will create West Ham in his own image. With an Italian director of football and an Italian coach at the helm, it is easy to guess where the recruitment drive for playing staff will begin. West Ham will no doubt soon have an Italian contingent to rival the Portuguese group at Chelsea during Mourinho’s reign.

Not that West Ham fans will mind the influx of players if they all become as big a part of the Hammers’ history as Paolo di Canio, for example. David Di Michele has already joined, of course, and it seems the secret Italian revolution will not be a secret for much longer.