Coach was 2 hrs away from becoming West Ham boss, before Real Madrid swooped

Current Real Madrid coach, Rafael Benitez was just two hours away from signing to become coach of West Ham, chairman of the Premier League club has revealed.

The then outgoing Napoli manager had already agreed contracts with West Ham and was two hours away from signing before Real Madrid swooped in on him.

Hammers co-chairman David Sullivan said he wanted Benitez or Jurgen Klopp to take over after Sam Alladyce left at the end of last season.

“We were two hours from getting Benitez and then Real came in,” Sullivan told Sky Sports.

“We had agreed a contract and everything.”

“He is a top manager, whatever anybody says, and I think he'd have done a wonderful job for us.

'We tried (Jurgen) Klopp as well but he wouldn't come because he said he wanted a break. But I'm glad with the manager we have got.”

Former Croatia national coach Slaven Bilic is currently the manager at West Ham