There was a time when West Ham United would recruit players only from within walking distance of Upton Park, but they will scour farther afield after offering Gianluca Nani the position of technical director.

The Brescia general manager is likely to accept the new role, which will begin in the summer. The Italian’s duties would include finding players and conducting transfers.

West Ham’s shift to a continental structure is a bold break from tradition for a club that became known as “The Academy” long before the word had its meaning today. They nurtured Bobby Moore, Geoff Hurst and Martin Peters to lead England to the 1966 World Cup triumph and more recently graduated the likes of Rio Ferdinand, Frank Lampard, Michael Carrick, Joe Cole and Jermain Defoe. James Tompkins, the next talent on the conveyor belt, has been earmarked as a player who could follow in Ferdinand’s footsteps at the heart of the England defence.

Tony Carr, the club’s director of youth development, will continue looking for young local players, leaving Nani to concentrate on discovering foreign talent and experienced players for the first team.

Nani has a good depth of knowledge of players in South America, has been seen scouting at reserve matches in many countries and is proud of persuading Adam Vass, the Hungary midfield player, to leave Stoke City for Brescia, the Serie B club. He also signed Marek Hamsik for about £300,000 from Slovan Bratislava and sold the midfield player to Napoli for a £3.5 million profit three years later.

Nani’s reputation as a strong negotiator will be comforting to Björgólfur Gudmundsson, West Ham’s Icelandic owner. The Italian worked as a sporting events organiser but took on his present role soon after he married Silvia Corioni, the daughter of Luigi Corioni, the president of Brescia.

Nani’s arrival at Brescia coincided with that of Roberto Baggio, whose performances helped the team to seventh place in Serie A in 2001 – the best placing in the club’s history – but they were relegated after the retirement of the former Italy forward in 2004.

Alan Curbishley, the West Ham manager, has been part of the interview process, leading the club to believe that there will be no tension between him and Nani. Damien Comolli and Frank Arnesen, the only other sporting directors working in the Barclays Premier League, have crossed swords with the managers at Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea respectively, while Nicky Hammond is the Reading director of football. Comolli’s fractious relationship with Martin Jol has been linked to the dismissal of the Dutchman at White Hart Lane in October.

Nani will also be expected to oversee the development of the proposed new stadium next to West Ham Underground station and the move to a better-equipped training facility. The club will be forced to leave their present training ground in Chadwell Health, Essex, in about five years.

Finishing school

After Ron Greenwood created the West Ham United youth system, some of England’s finest players came from Upton Park

Bobby Moore (108 caps, 2 goals); Geoff Hurst (49, 24); Martin Peters (67, 20); Trevor Brooking (47, 5); Alvin Martin (17, 0); Tony Cottee (7, 0); Paul Ince (53, 2); Rio Ferdinand (65, 2); Frank Lampard (60, 14); Joe Cole (48, 7); Michael Carrick (13, 0) Glen Johnson (5, 0).