‘I LOVE IT HERE... IT’S JUST SPECIAL’

WHEN Slaven Bilic was confirmed as West Ham’s new manager yesterday it ended a process which had seen the club try to lure some of European’s biggest names to Upton Park. Jurgen Klopp, Rafa Benitez, Antonio Conte, Carlo Ancelotti, Marcelo Bielsa, David Moyes, Unai Emery, Lucien Favre and Garry Monk were all approached and considered. But 46-year-old Bilic, undeterred that so many had turned down the chance to replace Sam Allardyce, predicted ‘great things’. Having just left Besiktas in Turkey, Bilic was open about his desire to take charge at a club where he played for 18 months from January 1996. He has a three-year contract worth about £3million a year, thought to contain a release clause if they are relegated. ‘I’m really glad to be back,’ Bilic told West Ham’s website. ‘It’s a special club. I love these special clubs. Besiktas was that kind of club. They’re cult clubs.’ His priority will be to stay in the Premier League — seen as essential when West Ham go to the Olympic Stadium next year. But owners David Sullivan and David Gold have also promised attacking football in what they consider the ‘West Ham way’. They will confirm the signing of Sampdoria’s Spanish midfielder Pedro Obiang today but Ghana striker Andre Ayew, available after his Marseille contract expired, rejected their approach. Bilic will also try to prise Loic Remy from Chelsea. The former Croatia coach, who will finish a family holiday before starting work, is expected to bring in Besiktas No 2 Nikola Jurcevic but there could also be a promotion for West Ham Under 21 coach Steve Potts, a friend of Bilic from his days as a West Ham player.