Reina: Benitez was ´ideal candidate´

Goalkeeper Pepe Reina has revealed ‘many’ of his Liverpool team-mates wanted Rafael Benitez to be given the job at Anfield.

Benitez, 52, left by mutual consent at the end of the 2009/10 season following an early exit from the Champions League and a disappointing seventh-place finish in the Premier League.

With Brendan Rodgers set to be appointed as Kenny Dalglish’s successor, the news could undermine the incoming boss.

Speaking to Radio Marca, Reina said: “For many of my colleagues and me, Rafael Benitez would be the ideal candidate.

“It’s that I’m not objective about it, but he is the coach who shaped me the most. He is the best.”

It comes just days after Liverpool legend Robbie Fowler also threw Benitez’s name into the ring for a possible return to the club.