Not a complete write-off that Benitez would take Everton job

The chance to return to Liverpool would surely be the job that Rafa Benitez most desires in the Premier League, but after one spell in the blue corner opposing the Anfield club, he could potentially soon find himself in another.

Ladbrokes are offering the top price of 50/1 that Benitez is unveiled as David Moyes’ replacement at Everton and the idea of such a relationship may not be as farfetched as it may initially appear.

It has been indicated that Benitez would love to remain in the Premier League when exiting Chelsea at the end of the season and there is unlikely to be a vacancy at a bigger club than Everton.

Meanwhile, the Spaniard’s wife and daughters still live in the Wirral on Merseyside and so there would be few better clubs that would allow him more time around his immediate family.

The two main problems would tend to be that given his ties with the red half of Merseyside, Benitez may not be the most popular of appointments, while he is unlikely to be given a budget that he has perhaps become used to elsewhere.

The fact that he once labelled Everton as a “small club” following a previous Merseyside derby in 2007 will not have been forgotten by the bulk of supporters either.

But, Benitez has shown at Chelsea that he can continue to do a fine job even if not receiving the full backing of the majority of supporters, especially as he was critical of the club in the past.

Reaching the Europa League final and qualifying for the Champions League must be classified as a success at Stamford Bridge and Everton fans would surely be more easily won round if Benitez could bring them trophies or the Champions League.

All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.