Real Madrid has established a strong legacy by winning the UEFA Champions League 14 times, making it the club with the most UCL wins in history. Which is why it doesn’t come as a surprise that a club like that would be willing to sign the best players in the world.
One such player signed by Madrid is Jude Bellingham. The Englishman joined the club in the summer transfer window of 2023 for 103 million pounds on a six-year contract. As expected, a transfer this big got people talking, and former Real Madrid manager Rafael Benitez had some interesting things to say.
Benitez discusses emerging star Bellingham’s Real Madrid potential
Rafael Benitez was appointed as Real Madrid’s manager in July 2015. Unfortunately, he did not have a great time at Santiago Bernabeu. Benitez’s appointment raised quite a few eyebrows and he left the club in January 2016. Real Madrid is set to face Benitez’s current team Celta Vigo on 26 August 2023 and the manager recently gave his views on Madrid signing Jude Bellingham.
In a recent interview, Rafael discussed Bellingham saying, “He was a player who was already seen to have potential. Sure, when you’re paying a hundred-odd million for a player, he’s got to be good. When you pay 45 million for 19-year-old players like Vinicius and Rodrygo, well, you already know that you are signing something that is going to be good.”
He also gave his thoughts about his upcoming match against Madrid and praised Real Madrid’s manager, Carlo Ancelotti,
“At the age of 13, I already played for Real Madrid. I spent many years as a footballer and then as a coach. Later, I returned to another stage. Of course, it is a special match. Real Madrid is a great club. It has a great coach (Carlo Ancelotti) and that is one of the keys. It would be necessary to give him continuity for many years because he does it very well and knows how to manage a squad.”
Rafael Benitez sacked from Madrid after seven months in charge
Benitez became Real Madrid’s manager in July 2015 as a replacement for Carlo Ancelotti. His performance for his former club, Napoli was not anything special. Since his arrival, Benitez started facing severe backlash not only from the fans but the players as well.
Players such as Cristiano Ronaldo were not happy with him and reports consistently showed that the two had a dysfunctional relationship. Benitez was not performing as well as expected and as time went by it became harder and harder for him to stay at the club.
At one point, fans started to boo him even if the team was winning. Finally, in January 2016 Benitez was removed from Real Madrid’s managerial post, and Zinedine Zidane was signed as his replacement.
