West Ham's 12^th place finish in the Premier League prompted the club to mutually part ways with four-year manager Sam Allardyce but they quickly found a replacement in their former defender Slaven Bilic.

The 56-year-old, who reportedly inked a three-year deal with West Ham, played in 54 games in his stint with the club from 1996-1997.

"West Ham United are delighted to announce the appointment of Slaven Bilic as the club's new manager," a statement from the club website read according to The Guardian.

Bilic has gained wide experience as a manager over the past 15 years; he was the former manager of Hajduk Split (2001–2002), the Croatian U21 team and then senior national team manager (2004-2012), Lokomotiv Moscow (2012-2013) and Besiktas (2013–2015), which he departed last month.

Bilic was reportedly interviewed over the weekend by West Ham's co-owners David Gold and David Sullivan, and club vice-chairman Karren Brady.

"It is a great place to play and I felt like I was at home. It is a big privilege and a big responsibility to now be manager and I hope that I will prove it to the board, players and fans," Bilic stated, according to BBC Sports.

"I could feel that they really wanted me so it was an easy choice. I would say to the West Ham fans that I will give my best and together we will achieve great things," he added.

Bilic also compared Besiktas to West Ham and how special the clubs are.

"I remember West Ham as a special club. My last club, Besiktas, was that kind of club. It's not about the size - there is something special about them - they are a cult club," Bilic stated.

West Ham had been considering Rafael Benitez before signing Bilic, but the former Liverpool manager ended up joining Real Madrid.

David Moyes and Carlo Ancelotti were also other names previously linked to the West Ham managerial position.