FIORENTINA boss Cesare Prandelli has admitted he would allow Giampaolo Pazzini to join West ham if the striker wanted to move.

The 24-year-old has been linked with a move to West Ham and while Prandelli would love to see the striker stay, he admits he would be powerless to prevent him leaving the Stadio Artemio Franchi.

“Pazzini is an important player for Fiorentina and I hope he can show that,” he said. “It is the players who decide their own future.

“If Pazzini wants to go to West Ham, we would do something about it but at the moment there’s nothing.”

The Hammers have denied being interested in signing Pazzini, despite being strongly linked to a move for the striker in January when the transfer window opens in January.

“These days there are many things coming from Italy that I get calls about,” West Ham’s director of football Gianluca Nani said.

“The truth is that Pazzini does not interest us, he is absolutely a player that does not enter our plans.”

Pazzini signed a new long-term deal in Florence last year but has slipped down the pecking order at Fiorentina and could look for a move away from the Viola to resurrect his career.

The striker is well known to Irons boss Gianfranco Zola from their time together with the Italian Under-21 international side.

And Zola could well be looking to pep up his front line at Upton Park which struggled to produce much in the final third against Tottenham in the 2-0 defeat on Monday night.

Zola could also be looking for cut price replacements if he is forced to sell members of his current squad in January to help the Hammers balance the books.

Defender Matthew Upson and goalkeeper Robert Green are both believed to be on Spurs’ shopping list.

And Manchester City chief Mark Hughes is believed to be interested in forward Craig Bellamy if rumours that West Ham will put him up for sale for £6million next month prove true.

But Bellamy is currently playing alongside Carlton Cole at the Hammers, and his strike partner is convinced that the Irons will soon start finding the back of the net.

“We’ve got a good understanding together and Craig’s a very clever player and he’s great to play with,” said Cole, who signed a five-year deal with West Ham last month.

“Once we’ve worked on our relationship then I think we can enjoy success if we start getting more chances.

“We need to get some more goals under our belts because we’ve not got many between us and it is not great.”

Cole is currently the Irons’ top scorer with three Premier League and one Carling Cup strike to his credit.

Bellamy has only found the back of the net once, against Blackburn in the Irons’ 4-1 home win over Blackburn, and that was at the tail end of August.

Since then his only goal has come for Wales in the 1-0 friendly international win away to Denmark last month in Brondby.