West Ham United have been linked with a move for Rafael Benitez.
West Ham United went into the international break with a 3-0 defeat away at Burnley, and it left Manuel Pellegrini facing a nervy fortnight.
Clubs often make managerial changes during the international break, and Pellegrini may have feared the worst after picking up just two points in six games.
West Ham haven’t parted ways with Pellegrini though, seemingly given him time to turn things around, starting with a huge game on Saturday afternoon against Tottenham Hotspur.
However, there are still rumours about Pellegrini’s future. The Mirror claim that West Ham already have a target in mind if they do sack Pellegrini, with Rafael Benitez wanted.
Benitez left Newcastle United in June, and headed off to China to become manager of Dalian Yifang, where he earns an eye-watering £12million-a-year.
The Spaniard is a proven Premier League manager with Liverpool and Newcastle, and given that West Ham wanted him in 2015, it’s no great surprise that he’s still wanted by David Gold and David Sullivan.
Whether he would be up for a return to England already remains to be seen, but Hammers fans have been giving their views – and whilst a few would like to see him come in, many are unconvinced.
Given that Pellegrini also came to West Ham from Chinese football, fans aren’t keen to go down a similar path again, suggesting that Benitez is ‘another dinosaur’ and having the Spaniard in charge is a ‘horrendous’ thought.
Others believe a young manager has to be the next appointment after the likes of Sam Allardyce, Slaven Bilic, David Moyes and Pellegrini, but feel that the club’s owners are ‘terrified’ of backing a young manager, and will instead go for somebody like Benitez.
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