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Real Madrid vice president Eduardo Fernandez de Blas let the cat out of the bag accidentally by disclosing that Rafael Benitez will be Real Madrid's next coach. It was anyway one of the worst kept secrets in the world of football, but Fernandez all but confirmed it.
'Ancelotti is an absolute phenomenon and we give him all out appreciation,' Fernandez de Blas said while addressing a Real Madrid members group. He then went on to say who is going to be Ancelotti's replacement.
'Until three days ago he was the best trainer in the world as two years ago it was Jose Mourinho and from this week onwards it will be Rafa Benitez.' The 55-year-old will be leaving Napoli at the end of the season to take charge of Real Madrid where he had an earlier stint as the youth team coach.
He was also a Real Madrid youth product during his playing days. But it was as a manager that he made a name for himself. It is expected that Benitez will be unveiled as the Los Blancos coach next Wednesday.
Ancelotti got the boot just 12 months after he had guided Madrid to the elusive 'La Decima' and also clinching the Copa del Rey.
Dream job
Jamie Carragher who played under Benitez during his time at Anfield says that Real Madrid was the Spaniard's dream job. Carragher wrote in his column for a newspaper that Benitez used to tell that Madrid had made him an offer when he was at Liverpool.
"When he started out his career in management, this was the job he always dreamed of getting and I know how much it means to him because he used to come up to me every couple of months at Melwood and say ‘Madrid have made me an offer’! – the defender wrote.
Benitez will be in the hot seat which has been occupied previously by the likes of Vicente del Bosque, Manuel Pellegrini, Jose Mourinho and Carlo Ancelotti being the latest. He will be returning to Spain as a manager after a decade, since his stint with Valencia. He left his homeland in 2004 when he took charge of Liverpool.
