Ahead of this evening’s match at Selhurst Park the gaffer said the club had made tentative enquiries about the Belgian forward.
However, Bilic admitted it is was difficult to land the former Liverpool striker and he joined the Eagles instead in a £27m deal.
“He was one of the players that was on our list but he was on the list of many clubs and he went to Palace,” said Bilic. “We got our strikers. I didn’t talk to him. We just wanted to know the situation and we couldn’t get him. It was hard to get him.”
Instead West Ham invested £20.5m in transfer recording signing Andre Ayew who has been injured since his brief debut.
Benteke has scored three goals in his five Premier League matches for Crystal Palace.