Real Madrid appoint Rafael Benitez - and give him a blank cheque

Real Madrid have confirmed that former Liverpool, Chelsea and Napoli manager Rafael Benitez will become the club's new first team coach - and he will have a huge say in who to sign over the summer.

Benitez has signed his three-year contract and will be presented to the media at 12:00 BST.

The identity of Benitez's assistant coach has yet to be decided but Fernando Morientes, the former Madrid striker who played under Benitez at Liverpool, is a contender.

In a statement on their official website, Real Madrid said:

"Real Madrid C. F. will present Rafa Benítez as the new first team coach for the next three seasons today, Wednesday 3 June.

"The ceremony will take place at 1pm CEST in the presidential box of the Santiago Bernabeu. Following his unveiling, Rafa Benitez will hold a press conference in the press room."

While Real's transfer policy is - infamously - run by the club president, it seems that Benitez will be given a huge say in who arrives at the Bernabeu this summer.

Spain's Marca reports that Florentino Perez "always welcomes his new managers with a special 'gift'" - namely, a blank cheque to sign any player they like.

The same paper reports that Perez and Benitez had dinner on Tuesday night, during which the new boss apparently gave his seal of approval to Real Madrid's imminent signing of Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea.

Fans in England and Italy might be bemused at Real choosing Benitez. While he brought Liverpool the Champions League, he never quite managed to take a hugely-talented team to the top of the Premier League.

And at Napoli things were even worse: after inheriting a team that had finished second in Serie A the previous season, he initially delivered a Coppa Italia victory but thereafter struggled, and Napoli finished down in fifth place in the recently-completed campaign.

Yet Spanish newspaper AS runs a piece which goes some way to explaining the thinking behind the decision: calling him a "man of the club".

The paper paints a picture of Benitez as a former Real Madrid assistant manager (who worked under Vicente del Bosque at the Bernabeu until 1995) who was somehow destined to return.

Benitez apparently hadn't even been in the running until it emerged three weeks ago that he was leaving Napoli, and "was only third or fourth choice" among Real fans.

But Perez was reportedly as keen to bring in Benitez as Benitez was to join Real Madrid - and his keenness has been underlined by the fact that his family will move to Spain, rather than remaining on Merseyside where they had lived away from Benitez during his two years in Naples.

"Tthe club has made a commitment to the Madrid-born coach he believes that, 'with work, work and work I can win over the confidence of the Madrid fans'," AS's report continues.

"Benítez will arrive at the Bernabéu as a fully-matured coach with a method of modern, clear and demanding work. He has won all possible titles since winning La Liga with Valencia...

"His spells in England and Italy have ensured he can compete with different styles of football, with a knowledge and understanding of the preparation needed on the pitch and a balanced contrast to impose his hierarchy in the dressing room without the need to crack the whip, nor falling into the complacency with which Ancelotti was charged amongst the reasons for his sacking. ..

"Benítez has assumed control of the club in just 24 hours. Since arriving from Naples he has hidden away in Valdebebas to ensure he knows everything about the set-up: the buildings, the doctors, coaches, pre-season, incomings and outgoings, reports…He has not left Valdebebas even to eat. His obsession with work and attention to detail has been part of his success."

AS's rather lop-sided puff-piece on Benitez is almost Stalinesque in its attempts to airbrush recent football history. To suggest that Benitez "has won all possible titles since winning La Liga with Valencia" will be a cruel joke for Liverpool fans, who time and again saw their most talented team in a generation come up short in the league under the Spanish manager's stewardship. Quite how Benitez will hope to upset Luis Enrique's Barcelona having consistently failed to upset teams such as Alex Ferguson's Manchester United will be fascinating to watch.

There again, there is a sort of logic to it: Benitez has tended to have his best results in his first season with each club: Liga champion with Valencia in his first season at the helm, Champions League winner with Liverpool in his first year in charge, Europa League winner with Chelsea in a brief but memorable stint, and Coppa Italia victor with Napoli barely six months after taking over.

Considering that even the best Real Madrid managers seem to last no more than a couple of seasons, don't discount the possibility that Benitez will enjoy a short, sharp winning spell at the Bernabeu.