Former Everton player shows interest in replacing Benitez, currently out of work

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Everton boss Rafael Benitez looks set to leave the club – and Slaven Bilic is believed to have put his name forward for a shock Goodison Park return.

Everton lost 2-1 at struggling Norwich City on Saturday, with kamikaze defending leaving them 2-0 down in the first half.

Richarlison brought one back, but it wasn’t enough to prevent yet another defeat.

That’s just two wins in the last 15 Premier League games for Everton, and fans have had enough.

It sounds like Benitez will be on his way out very soon, with 90Min claiming that he has agreed to leave Everton.

So who on earth could come in?

That same 90Min report claims that Bilic has put himself forward for a move to become the new Everton boss.

Bilic, 53, is currently out of work having left his post as Beijing Guoan manager just last weekend.

Bilic won nine of 29 games there, losing 12 times and drawing eight. Best remembered for a superb spell in charge of Croatia, Bilic’s managerial career has been up and down since.

After a mixed time at Lokomotiv Moscow, Bilic won more than 50% of his games at Besiktas before heading to West Ham United.

Bilic worked wonders with West Ham at first, but the magic eventually wore off and he was gone in November 2017.

A move to Al-Ittihad didn’t get Bilic back on track, but he did guide West Bromwich Albion to promotion out of the Championship in 2020.

Having been sacked by West Brom in December 2020, Bilic headed to China with Beijing Guoan but lasted just a year.

Bilic does have a connection with Everton already. Everton signed Bilic back in 1997, and he made 30 appearances for the Toffees as a player.

Will that be enough to get Everton fans on board with this kind of move? Probably not.

Bilic hasn’t really done enough in his club management career to suggest that he is the man to take Everton forward.

Everton fans want something to believe in right now, and going for a manager who was let go by West Brom just over a year ago isn’t going to do that.

Update: Since time of writing, the Bilic claims have been removed completely from the original source. It may well be that the Croatian doesn’t end up replacing Benitez after all, and we would advise that Everton aim a little higher should they seek a new manager.