Rafael Benitez keen on return to Premier League management; Peter Crouch recently endorsed his former Liverpool boss for the vacant Tottenham job; Benitez has been out of work since leaving Chinese club Dalian Professional in January
Thursday 6 May 2021 22:58, UK
Former Liverpool and Newcastle United manager Rafael Benitez says he wants his next job to be in the Premier League - after being endorsed as a candidate for the vacant Spurs job by Peter Crouch.
Crouch was asked in an online question-and-answer session for the Daily Mail for his thoughts on his former Anfield boss potentially succeeding Jose Mourinho at Tottenham.
The ex-England striker said: "In terms of Tottenham, it wouldn't be the worst shout. He's proven at the highest level, his CV is superb - there are worse candidates, for sure."
Former player Ryan Mason will remain in temporary charge at Tottenham for the remainder of the season, with Leicester boss Brendan Rodgers already publicly ruling himself out of the running for the role and Erik ten Hag signing a one-year contract extension with Ajax until 2023 on Friday.
Benitez is available after leaving Chinese Super League club Dalian Professional by mutual consent in January, still resides in Liverpool and keeps very close tabs on English football.
"I moved to China because there were no top sides here, so I needed to keep competing and doing my job," Benitez told Sky Sports News' Inside Football.
"But at the moment I'm quite keen to stay in England, in Liverpool. I'm watching every Premier League game and sometimes Championship games so that I'm always ready.
"The priority is England, the Premier League, my family is here and I like the style of football here. I will try to be ready here.
"I am watching the Serie A because it is a good league for me but there, in France, in Germany, in Portugal, I don't see too many options in these countries to have a project where you can develop players and make the team more competitive."
