Latest news with #RafaBenitez
Daily Mail
29-07-2025
- Sport
- Daily Mail
Former Liverpool and Arsenal star reveals he REJECTED Real Madrid after falling out with manager
Jermaine Pennant has revealed he could have joined Spanish giants Real Madrid after being frozen out by Rafa Benitez at Liverpool. The English winger, now 42, enjoyed a successful Premier League career before eventually hanging up his boots in early 2018. He captured the attention of football fans at a young age, with a 15-year-old Pennant signed for a then-record fee for a trainee when Arsenal forked out £2million to bring him in from Notts County. He went onto make 26 appearances for the Gunners before really making a name for himself at Birmingham City, joining the Blues following a successful loan in 2005. It was only a year later however when Merseyside giants Liverpool came calling, with Pennant making the move north in a deal worth up to £8million. And the fee paid by manager Rafa Benitez seemed justified, with the flying winger cementing himself in Liverpool's first eleven and playing a crucial part in their run to the 2007 Champions League final, in which he played a full 90 minutes. But after two seasons at Anfield, Pennant was frozen out and left 'training on Saturday afternoons' after a fallout with manager Rafa Benitez. He featured just three times in the early months of the season and was free to leave in January - which is when Real Madrid chiefs called his agent's phone. Shockingly, Pennant joined a short list of players to turn Los Blancos down, opting for a move to Portsmouth instead - a decision he admittedly regrets. 'This is a crazy one and many people can't believe this, but Real Madrid wanted me,' he told Adventure Gamers. 'It was my last year at Liverpool, I wasn't going to sign a new contract, and things weren't really working out between Rafa Benitez and me. 'Madrid came in needing a right winger for their squad depth, so we had that conversation and it was exciting, but then I asked myself if I wanted to go there and sit on the bench for three years or do I want to go somewhere to be a first-team starter and kick-start my career again? 'It was exciting but I wasn't keen at the time. Would I go back and change my decision? I wish I could.' Pennant's agent Sky Andrew also spoke about the decision to turn Madrid down during a recent appearance on talkSPORT. 'Pennant was just one of those people, his dream was to go to Liverpool, and when he messed that up, there was nowhere else to go,' he said. 'So I rang him and said, "Jermaine, Liverpool have agreed a fee for you to go Real Madrid." 'The narrative I got from the club is that they were just looking for someone to sit on the bench as a backup. The more I said it to Jermaine, the more he said, "No, I'm not sitting on the bench." 'He's a nightmare when he's not playing. In the end they signed someone from West Ham (Julian Flaubert), who didn't play a game in the second half of the season. 'If Jermaine had gone there and not played, it would have been a disaster.' Pennant instead joined Peter Crouch at Portsmouth that winter transfer window, making 13 appearances for Pompy in the second half of the 2008/09 season. He later made a Spanish move to Real Zaragoza, before settling at Stoke City, appearing 89 times for the club during a three years period.
Yahoo
18-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Rafa Benitez reveals how De Bruyne can elevate Napoli and calms concerns on age
Former Napoli head coach Rafa Benitez has described Kevin De Bruyne as 'pure light', praising the Belgian star as 'an elegant player who fills the pitch with his intelligence.' Speaking in an interview with Italian newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport, with quotes via IlNapolista, Benitez was full of superlatives to describe the new Napoli signing, after the 34-year-old left Manchester City this summer to join Antonio Conte's side on a free transfer. Benitez described coming up against De Bruyne whilst the Belgian was playing for Bundesliga side Wolfsburg and the coach was in charge at Napoli: 'He was already a predestined talent, it was easy to see. And his career then confirmed that. He has a trophy cabinet where nothing is missing. But above all, he has an authority that is an absolute guarantee.' Benitez: Here's what De Bruyne will bring to Napoli When asked what De Bruyne will bring to this Napoli side, Benitez revealed that 'He joins a team that knows it is strong – as proven by the Scudetto won two months ago. He brings not only experience but also undeniable talent that age cannot diminish.' At 34, De Bruyne will be one of the oldest players in the Napoli squad and certainly one of the older players that Napoli will sign for Antonio Conte. The club are putting an increasing effort into signing players with room to develop, as they aim to make use of Conte's skill as a coach and keep a concerted eye on the future. Some fans are concerned that De Bruyne's age is a big gamble but Benitez was quick to try and put them at ease. 'Thirty-four years old may seem a point of debate for some but players have extended their careers and continue to endure. And then De Bruyne, who you need only look at his most recent stats, comes off an intense season in which he never held back: his forty appearances and his performances prove it.'
Yahoo
11-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Man United legend reveals he almost signed for Liverpool
Vidic Almost Joined Liverpool Before Manchester United Move Sliding Doors in Serbian Steel There are few tales more riddled with regret and intrigue than those that involve players who almost changed the course of footballing history. Nemanja Vidic, a name synonymous with the snarling backbone of Sir Alex Ferguson's last great Manchester United side, has revealed that he almost joined Liverpool before ending up at Old Trafford. That revelation, delivered with the casual weight of a shrug, carries with it the sort of historical tension that only this rivalry can bear. Vidic said, 'In 2005, I had a call from Liverpool. Rafa Benitez called me and I spoke to him. He said he wanted me to come to Liverpool.' The thought alone is enough to send shivers down the spines of fans on both sides of the divide. Imagine him in red, but not that red. Photo: IMAGO Advertisement This was not a fleeting conversation either. 'I was interested. I thought about Liverpool,' he admitted. The allure of Merseyside was real. A European heavyweight coming off the back of a Champions League triumph, with Benitez looking to fortify a brittle defence. 'But my English was not good and I was struggling to communicate. Then Manchester United came.' It is the sort of detail that borders on the absurd. A man's trajectory, his legacy, shaped not by tactical preference or financial incentive but by language barriers. Liverpool blinked, and Ferguson didn't. The rest is stained into the turf of English football. Defining Eras, Red Shirts, Different Cities Vidic's eventual partnership with Rio Ferdinand became the gold standard of Premier League defending. Muscular, unyielding and often bordering on the violent, it was a duo that defined an era. Liverpool, meanwhile, spent the next several seasons in a state of tactical flux, attempting to replicate what they could have had. Photo IMAGO Advertisement Had Benitez been more persistent, had Vidic's English been just a little sharper, could Liverpool have built their spine earlier? This was a club with Jamie Carragher and Sami Hyypiä, both warriors in their own right, but neither quite possessed the sheer intimidation factor of Vidic. His move to Manchester United in January 2006 for a fee of £7 million proved one of the defining transfers of the Premier League's modern age. United reclaimed the title the very next season and lifted four more during his tenure. In Europe, they won the Champions League in 2008. Liverpool's fans were left to watch their almost-centre-half hoist trophies in another red. Misfires in Transfer Markets History is peppered with moments like this, where clubs step to the brink and then retreat. Liverpool's flirtation with Vidic mirrors other transfer misfires that have haunted them: Dani Alves, Simao Sabrosa, and Cristiano Ronaldo are names that circle in regret like ravens around Anfield. In each case, negotiations faltered, and another club stepped in. Advertisement Yet the Vidic saga feels uniquely poignant. This was not just a missed opportunity, it was a gift wrapped in red ribbon and left unopened. 'I speak better English now. Maybe things could have been different,' Vidic quipped later, with the kind of humour that makes Liverpool fans wince. Legacy Defined by What Wasn't There are careers built on the games that were played, and others haunted by the ones that never were. Vidic almost joined Liverpool, and in doing so, he almost rewrote his story and theirs. Instead, he became a colossus in Manchester, a man for the trenches, bloodied but never bowed. For Liverpool, it remains a footnote in their transfer history, but a significant one. In a world of scouting algorithms and recruitment models, this one slipped through on the simplest of grounds. Communication.
Irish Daily Mirror
11-07-2025
- Sport
- Irish Daily Mirror
LFC Istanbul 20th Anniversary special edition, on sale now
It was and it will be the best final ever,' says Rafa Benitez about Liverpool's fifth European Cup win in 2005. It's now 20 years since the Reds defied the odds to overcome a 3-0 half-time deficit to AC Milan in Istanbul to triumph on penalties. In this special Liverpool Echo 48-page celebration of the Miracle of Istanbul we bring you the inside story of how it was achieved, as told by the people who were there. Click HERE to buy online and have it delivered directly to your door, or you can purchase it in participating supermarkets, high street retailers and independent newsagents on Merseyside, in Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland from July 2, 2025. Online postage and packaging costs apply.
Daily Mirror
11-07-2025
- Sport
- Daily Mirror
LFC Istanbul 20th Anniversary special edition, on sale now
A 48 page celebration special of the miracle of Istanbul It was and it will be the best final ever,' says Rafa Benitez about Liverpool's fifth European Cup win in 2005. It's now 20 years since the Reds defied the odds to overcome a 3-0 half-time deficit to AC Milan in Istanbul to triumph on penalties. In this special Liverpool Echo 48-page celebration of the Miracle of Istanbul we bring you the inside story of how it was achieved, as told by the people who were there. Rafa Benitez and his players describe in detail what really happened in the dressing toom at the Ataturk ahead of the remarkable second-half turnaround Steven Gerrard explains why Liverpool's victory will never be replicated by another side. Liverpool fans reminisce about how they celebrated the win, in Istanbul, Merseyside and around the globe. John Arne Riise explains why the players' respect for Gerrard was crucial in the penalty victory. What happened next for the Reds' Champions League winning players. How the ECHO covered the greatest moment in Liverpool's history. Relive the celebration bus parade when 750,000 fans turned the city into the 'Red Sea'. Click HERE to buy online and have it delivered directly to your door, or you can purchase it in participating supermarkets, high street retailers and independent newsagents on Merseyside, in Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland from July 2, 2025. Online postage and packaging costs apply.
