Rafa Benitez is poised for a sensational return to the Bernabeu with Real Madrid expected to sack Carlo Ancelotti tomorrow and appoint the former Liverpool boss next week.
Benitez, 55, currently at Napoli, had been close to a £6million-a-year, two-season deal to take over at West Ham but will now rejoin the club he served as a youth player and coach more than 20 years ago.
‘I am not inside his head but think he would be truly happy to manage Real Madrid one day,’ said Benitez’s agent, Manuel Garcia Quilon.
Benitez could enter a hostile dressing room with several players unhappy that today’s home game with Getafe looks like being Ancelotti’s last.
The Italian had still to be informed of Madrid’s decision last night but Real president Florentino Perez is determined to shake up a team that failed to win a trophy this season.
Supporters also seem unconvinced, with only seven per cent of 30,000 polled by Spanish newspaper Marca favouring his appointment. Jurgen Klopp, the Borussia Dortmund coach, was the people’s choice but he speaks no Spanish and is seen as a maverick by Real’s board.
Instead, Benitez will become the 11th coach of Perez’s reign. Benitez is close to Perez and his right-hand man, Jose Angel Sanchez. The club want him to improve fitness levels after blaming Ancelotti for a spate of muscle injuries that ruined the second half of Madrid’s season.
Paul Clement, Ancelotti’s English assistant, has already agreed to go and is waiting on the outcome of Steve McClaren’s dispute with Derby before taking over at Pride Park.
Benitez’s arrival should be good news for record signing Gareth Bale. Benitez speaks English, favours the fast direct football that suits Bale and part of his remit will be to coax the best from the Welshman.
A playing career that took him as far as Real Madrid’s C-team only to be cut short by a knee injury at the age of 20 saw Benitez switch to coaching Real’s B-team, working alongside Vicente Del Bosque. When Del Bosque got the big job, replacing Benito Floro, Benitez became his assistant.
The experiment lasted as long as Del Bosque, who was just standing in until Real signed Jorge Valdano as permanent coach. When the Argentine started telling Benitez who to pick for Real’s second string, the young manager walked away. It has been a long road back but one lined with trophies.
He won La Liga with Valencia in 2002 and 2004 only for Madrid to sneer that his teams played dull football. Champions League success with Liverpool did a lot to destroy that argument.
Benitez was born in Madrid, studied in Madrid and even did his military service in Madrid. Now it seems he is to finally coach the club closest to his heart. – Daily Mail