After Neil Lennon stepped down from his role in the middle of a disappointing campaign, leaving John Kennedy in interim charge of the club, Celtic have been linked with a wide variety of managers. One of them is Rafa Benitez.
One of the most decorated and successful managers of his generation, Benitez has the experience of working at clubs like Real Madrid, Liverpool, Chelsea, Inter Milan, Napoli, Valencia among many others.
Thus, there is no questioning the pedigree and experience that he would bring along. And that might be exactly what that the Hoops need right now as they aim to rebuild over the course of the summer while also assembling a squad capable of challenging for the Premiership title immediately, after losing the title race to the Rangers with six games to spare this time around.
But Benitez appears to be aiming to remain in England. And in that case, a move to Parkhead could be out of question for the Spanish manager. While speaking with The Times and as reported by Sky Sports, he said:
"“The priority is England.“Why? Because obviously I like the Premier League and my family is here.“I have a lot [of offers] from the Emirates, United States, Brazil, China, but I want to stay in Europe. And I want to stay in England.”"
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Celtic have been linked with a wide variety of managers recently
Benitez is not the only manager that the Hoops have been linked with recently though. Eddie Howe, Chris Wilder, Frank Lampard, Roy Keane, Jesse Marsch and many other names have floated around over the past few months. And it will be very interesting to see who the club ultimately end up appointing.
One thing is for sure though, the club look set to undergo a massive overhaul in the summer. Peter Lawwell is set to be replaced by Dominic McKay at the end of this campaign, Scott Brown will be leaving for Aberdeen, a new manager looks set to be brought in and a director of football might arrive as well.
Despite coming off of a disappointing season, this is an exciting time to be a Celtic fan. Let’s hope that the club make the right decisions, which will see them return to the top of Scottish football as soon as possible.