WEST Ham United are on the verge of signing a new £2million sponsorship deal.

The club have been without a principal partner since tour operator XL went into liquidation in September.

Now, however, the Irons are close to completing a contract that will see the club sponsored by Asian-based online sportsbook SBOBet until the end of the 2009/10 season.

The contract is believed to be worth in the region of £2million.

The new sponsorship package will provide some much-needed relief for chairman Bjorgolfur Gudmundsson, who had invested heavily in XL and also suffered when Icelandic bank Landsbanki was nationalised a month ago.

The new sponsors’ logo could be on the club’s shirts in time for next Saturday’s Premier League fixture against Portsmouth at Upton Park.

Meanwhile, manager Gianfranco Zola has called on his side to emulate Everton and break into the Premier League’s big-four.

The Toffees, who visit the Boleyn Ground tomorrow, were the last team to break the monopoly of Arsenal, Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool in 2005 and Zola wants his team to do likewise.

“I like their manager (David Moyes). He did a great job last year and he can be one of the examples we can use,” said the Italian.

“They’re a smaller team who got good results and it would be great for us to emulate them or maybe do even better.”

However, Zola does not want to emulate Moyes’ brand of physical football, instead pledging to play a “spicy” entertaining, passing, attacking style.

“I like to play spicy,” he said.

“We have conceded a lot of goals and in the last few games we were quite solid. But having said that I won’t give up on my idea and I would love to play attacking football.

“Now I won’t change my attitude. The fans have a lot of confidence in us and they are happy with what we’re trying to achieve here.

l ZOLA joins calls for winter break at www.echo-news.co.uk/sport/football/west ham