Former Newcastle United manager Rafa Benitez has revealed he wants to come back to the Premier League.
Benitez hasn’t worked in the Premier League since he was sacked by Everton in 2022.
The Spaniard then moved to Celta Vigo around a year after that but hasn’t been back in the dugout since that spell ended in 2024.
Benitez, of course, was a hugely popular figure at Newcastle United.
He was a rare positive during the otherwise bleak Mike Ashley era on Tyneside and it would have been fascinating to see how far he could have taken the club if he had been backed. A hero amongst supporters, he left in 2019 and things got much worse under Steve Bruce.
Still, Newcastle have moved on. Now, Benitez is out to prove he can do something similar.
Rafa Benitez wants to return to the Premier League
Speaking to The Daily Telegraph, the former Liverpool manager revealed he was keen to come back to England and prove people wrong.
Benitez confirmed he was open to returning to the Premier League and he did not want people to think he was finished as an elite-level coach.
“It is bad for a coach to be seen as retired. People still ask me, ‘Do you want to coach?’ For sure, I do, particularly in England and Europe,” he said.
“I do not want people to think I am finished. I am still evolving.”
Benitez has managed 359 Premier League games across his spells with Liverpool, Chelsea, Newcastle and Everton, winning 173 of them.
Rafa Benitez held secret behind the scenes talks with Newcastle United
As mentioned above, the 65-year-old is still welcomed warmly on Tyneside. For years under Ashley, having a manager as revered as him was something to cling onto.
Indeed, it seems he remains in contact with people at the club.
Earlier this week, Benitez shared a secret after talking to people behind the scenes at Newcastle United.
He revealed that people he has spoken to at the club are really missing Alexander Isak after the striker forced a move to Liverpool during the summer transfer window.
“I will tell you a secret, talking to Newcastle United people, they are missing him,” he said.
Benitez was appointed as Newcastle United manager in 2016 and won the Championship a year later before leaving in 2019.
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