According to an ‘exclusive’ from Football Insider, Rafa Benitez has rejected an offer from West Ham to replace under-fire boss Manuel Pellegrini.
With the Hammers losing 7 of their last 9, Pellegrini is on the brink – and it’s reported here that he’ll be sacked if his side lose at Southampton this weekend.
It’s no secret that Rafa has long-term admirers at the London Stadium, with him almost arriving before a last minute offer from Real Madrid in 2016.
That said, it seems West Ham have have tried and failed to bring the Dalian Yifang boss back to England, with Football Insider claiming he’s rejected their offer – despite being “eager” to return to the Premier League if the right opportunity arrives.
With the Chinese Super League season now over, it seems that Benitez is considering his options and likely has many clubs vying for his services, however he did insist on Sky Sports this week that he’ll finish his 2 year project with Dalian Yifang before returning to England.
Knowing Benitez, he will wait for the right job and for a club that matches his ambition of challenging for trophies.
It would be great to see the former NUFC boss return to the Premier League. After all, this is where a manager of his pedigree should be – not China.
He seems to think he won’t be going anywhere soon, but with many vacant manager jobs in the English top flight, it’ll be interesting to see if Rafa gets tempted into an early return.
