Former Real Madrid president Ramon Calderon has claimed that Rafael Benitez was the club's "fourth option" after they failed to lure other managerial targets to the club last summer.

Benitez left Napoli to take charge of the Spanish giants at the start of the season, but was relieved of his duties earlier this month after a host of opposition at the Bernabeu.

Calderon has said that Jose Mourinho, Joachim Low and Jurgen Klopp were all ahead of Benitez when Real Madrid began their search for a new boss and only turned to the latter when all other options were exhausted.

"Benitez was a coach who was already a dead man walking from the start at Real Madrid," Calderon told reporters.

"That's because he was not the chosen one, he was the fourth option. They tried to bring [Jose] Mourinho but the Portuguese did not want to go back.

"After that they tried to get Joachim Low, and he didn't want to come either. The third person they tried to get was [Jurgen] Klopp, and the German also rejected. So the last option was Rafa Benitez. They brought him in even though he didn't suit Real Madrid's style."

Former midfielder Zinedine Zidane has since taken charge of Los Blancos.