Jan 16 2009
Rafa Benitez Rejects New Liverpool Contract
Rafa Benitez turned down Liverpool’s offer to extend the Spaniard’s contract with the club, citing that the new deal would not provide for the decision making power Benitez desires. Apparently Rafa wants more control over transfers, to the point where he is the last word in all decisions on players coming in and out of the club. Opposed to the system now currently in place, in which all transfer decisions must go through chief executive Rick Parry.
Which is exactly what Benitez said in his reasoning for the decision, “I have a lot of experience in football at different clubs and if you do not have a technical director and you are the manager you have to have control of the football decisions. “But always within the confines of a budget which is controlled by the owners and the club.
“In this scenario the manager knows the amount money he has available to him and can decide how much he should spend on each player according to the needs of the team.
“The only person who can decide the value of a player to his squad is the manager because he knows what elements are needed to improve the squad.”
Although I do understand if Hicks and Gillett are a bit apprehensive about giving Benitez so much responsibility considering how the last big transfer push from Benitez worked out. Because seriously, Robbie Keane? That’s the quality Benitez is fighting for?
A £20 million deal Liverpool will never gain anything from, and no doubt the debt would be bigger if Benitez would have had no one to answer to. Benitez has always struck me as a manager that would purchase an expensive player on a whim, and that’s not the person you want at a football club, with all the transfer power.
Craig Bellamy submitted a transfer request to West Ham United, apparently he’s interesting in the offers from Tottenham and Manchester City. But West Ham have turned him down, and that’s a good decision, because Dean Ashton still won’t be back for some time, and without Bellamy West Ham don’t have a capable striker.
And Jose Mourinho is apparently targeting Tottenham’s Jermaine Jenas. Good luck prying a talented midfielder from a struggling club before summer though.
