Rafael Benitez holding out for other projects despite Leeds United talks
Rafael Benitez is “holding out for a different project” after Leeds United contacted him amid their growing managerial crisis, The Daily Mail reports.
After apparently being content to let caretaker boss Michael Skubala stay in charge for the foreseeable future, the worrying 1-0 defeat at Everton on Saturday (18 February) has seen the club spring back into action to find a permanent appointment.
The Whites are now inside the relegation zone and it emerged via Fabrizio Romano on Monday that former Watford boss Javi Gracia is now in talks, but it appears there are a number of other options still being considered although apparently with no luck on former Champions League-winner Benitez.
According to The Mail: “Leeds had reached out to former Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez but so far, he is understood to be holding out for a different project. Other names are being considered too.”
Aversion
It really doesn’t say much for the current state of affairs at Elland Road that so many managers are unwilling to leave their current situations to take over.
Despite a squad that looks to be strong enough to be a long way from the bottom three, and money spent in January, a list of options have held back when approached.
Carlos Corberan, Arne Slot and Andoni Iraola are the three main names who were not prepared to leave their current jobs at this point, but more concerning is the likes of Marcelo Gallardo and apparently Benitez, who are out of work at the moment and still see it as a hospital pass.
Perhaps Gracia proves to be the man for the rest of the season, and he is at least experienced compared to Skubala who was thrust into the limelight thanks to the board’s failings.
But the Spaniard will know that he was a long way down the original list of candidates, if his name featured on it at all.
Compatriot Benitez would surely have been higher up to start with, despite his recent record suggesting diminishing returns on his earlier career.
At this point the former Valencia, Newcastle and Chelsea boss does look a preferable choice if he can at least do some of the firefighting he managed at St. James’ Park.
After his toxic reign at Everton it is hard to believe that he is looking for a project at a level higher than the bottom of the top flight, but that experience might have given him an insight into the mismanagement of a club that he doesn’t want to repeat at Elland Road amid the current crisis.
There needs to be an answer quickly, but whoever it is now is going to be a gamble with the board having put themselves in a desperate situation.
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