"Hola? Hellooo...Mr Lerner I'am available?"
In the wake of Houllier’s departure from Aston Villa there is a sense of deja-vu a Benitez would fit well into the set up at the midlands club, given his knowledge of the Premier league, his pedigree in the champions league. The win in 2005 with Liverpool, runners up the following, reaching the last 16 in 2007, with a loss to Chelsea in the 2008 semi-final and in quarter-final the season after. In his last year it was a loss to the eventual winners of the Europa Cup, when Atletico Madrid dispatched Liverpool. The CV is all supported also by a victory in the UEFA Cup in 2004, which again brings valuable prize money.
The Champions League too can become a valuable annual source of income - delightful news for any owner.
For the Aston Villa owner, Randy Lerner, such pedigree may be enough to secure his services, assuming the wage demands of Carlo Ancelotti are as excessive as has been reported, and the resignation from Fulham manager, Mark Hughes, is totally unrelated to the current recruitment drive at Villa Park. One has to believe that the added pedigree of Benitez at the Real Madrid youth set up in his early career also stands to him as Villa need to continue developing players in-house and not be dependent on the vagaries of the transfer window – where they will always be trying to punch above their weight without regular Champions League success.
However there maybe misgivings about Rafa's the spendthrift nature at Liverpool where cheques in excess of £229M were written over the five years, albeit reports suggest there were few losses by the time the players had been sold. In terms of quality though, for every Reina, Mascherano, Alonso, Torres, Luis Garcia, Arbeloa and Kuyt he signed – there was a Robbie Keane, Kromkamp, Nunez (Legend!), Dossena, Bellamy, Morientes or Josemi.
The major buys all big change; Aquilani (£17m), Johnson (£17.5m), Keane (£19m), Torres (£20m) and Mascherano (£19m). Whether the US dollar stretches that far these days remains to be seen.
The Spaniard has been unemployed since losing his at Italian champions Internazionale last December, and claims to have had offers from both club and international sides. However, Rafa Benitez has stated he is keen to return to England after spending those five years at Liverpool after being asked about his future on BBC Radio Five Live's Sportsweek programme in April
Benitez said: "The priority is the Premier League, because the style is better for me.”
"You can't say we will build something and spend three, four or five years waiting for trophies. You have to find the right balance, a club that can win or try to win right now but at the same time prepare for the future.
"At this moment in time I don't have any offer. Before I did, but now I don't have any offers. I have had some offers abroad and some national teams, but I needed to stay with the family ... relax a little bit and be ready for the next challenge."
Interestingly his family continued to live in Wirral during his seven month stint at Inter Milan.
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