West Ham co-owner David Sullivan has told the London Evening Standard that Rafa Benitez was "within three hours" of becoming the new manager at Upton Park before taking charge of Real Madrid instead.
West Ham parted company with Sam Allardyce at the end of last season and had hoped to bring in Benitez as his replacement after the Spaniard decided to leave Napoli.
However, the former Valencia, Liverpool and Chelsea manager then took the job at the Bernabeu and the Hammers appointed former Croatia...
