Report: Rafael Benitez has now expressed clear interest in becoming Leeds United boss

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Rafael Benitez has expressed an interest in becoming the new Leeds United manager with the search for Jesse Marsch’s successor still ongoing.

That’s according to talkSPORT, who claim that Benitez has now made his interest in the Leeds vacancy clear.

TalkSPORT add that whilst Benitez is interested, the job is actually more likely to go to Javi Gracia right now.

The two Spaniards appear to be the top targets for Leeds after missing out on a host of candidates since sacking Jesse Marsch two weeks ago.

Gracia’s name emerged earlier on Monday but Benitez appears to be in the mix too with Victor Orta surely having a big say here.

Benitez has been out of work for over a year now having left Everton in January 2022.

The 62-year-old seemingly fancies another crack at Premier League management but may end up losing out to Gracia.

Rafael Benitez will divide opinion at Leeds United

In truth, Benitez has been a divisive figure for years now.

Benitez won the Champions League with Liverpool but was quickly sacked in his next job at Inter Milan.

After a strange job as interim Chelsea boss, Benitez impressed at Napoli only to struggle at Real Madrid.

Benitez incredibly took the Newcastle job and even stayed following their relegation from the Premier League, securing promotion at the first attempt.

Benitez managed to secure Newcastle as a solid Premier League club again despite a limited budget, but left in 2019 for Dalian Professional in China.

The Spaniard returned to England in 2021 but a move to Everton was never going to work given his Liverpool ties.

That is a very up and down career over the last 20 years or so and Leeds fans may well be split.

Benitez did a great job at Newcastle and whilst the football wasn’t amazing to watch, he brought a solidity and a stability that Leeds need right now.

The flip side is that Benitez was a disaster at Everton and giving him another Premier League job after that nightmare is a risk.

Orta and Andrea Radrizzani may prefer Gracia but the pull of a big-name manager in Benitez could be very appealing as Leeds seek to stay in the top flight.