Insider ExWHUEmployee has revealed that possible West Ham United manager target Rafa Benitez wants a longer contract than the club are willing to offer.

What's the latest on Rafa Benitez and West Ham?

With just nine Premier League games left to play, it's safe to say that it has been quite a rocky season for the Hammers regardless of what happens over the coming weeks.

Indeed, the Irons are currently caught in an unexpected relegation battle, 14th in the division, just three points above the bottom three.

For the last few months, it's felt as if manager David Moyes has perpetually been on the brink but the 59-year-old has so far been backed by the board.

It now turns out, perhaps the club have been unwilling to sack the coach as one of their preferred potential replacements hasn't been open to what was on the table at West Ham should he arrive.

Indeed, while speaking on the latest The West Ham Way podcast, Ex revealed that Benitez supposedly wants a long-term contract but the board aren't so keen on that.

The insider explained (10:50): "Apparently Rafa Benitez is another manager that we've considered, but he wants a long-term contract and we only wanted to give him six months."

Why won't Benitez take the West Ham manager job?

Seeing as Moyes has been under pressure for quite some time now – in December he was booed by his own fans at the London Stadium – discussions about a future manager may have been going on for months.

With that in mind, the club may have approached Benitez with the idea of just giving him until the summer to help steady to the club and potentially prove himself – hence the six-month offer.

By the sounds of it, though, the 62-year-old Spaniard wasn't on board with that. Interestingly enough, his name also came up when linked with the Leicester City job.

The Foxes have gone for Dean Smith now, who will stay until the end of the season, and so maybe Benitez was also offered that interim role but turned it down as he may have done with West Ham.

He certainly has spoken about his ability to be picky with the job offers he gets. In an interview with the Daily Mail recently he said: “The good thing I have is that because I have managed so many years and because I was successful, I can decide.

“I have had around 20 offers since I left Everton. National teams, different teams in Asia, in the Emirates, in Mexico. National teams everywhere.

“Some teams in England, some teams in Spain. The reality is you need to find the right one, the team that will allow you to build.”

And so this certainly backs up Ex's claim that the Spaniard simply wasn't keen on the short-term offer made to him by West Ham.