One hundred and seven.
That’s the amount of players that Rafa Benitez has signed as a manager from his time as manager at Valencia, Liverpool, Inter Milan, Chelsea (interim) and Napoli.
Some good, some bad and some a total waste of ink and paper.
With the Spaniard now in charge at Real Madrid he has the biggest chequebook in world football at his disposal, while the club’s fans will demand instant success.
So any mistakes in the transfer market will not be taken well by the Madrid faithful or the local media.
And Spanish newspaper Marca has reminded Benitez of the error of his ways at his time with Liverpool by naming an Irish football legend as his biggest transfer mistake.
Benitez was desperate to add some extra firepower to Liverpool’s frontline in 2008 and paid €25 million for Robbie Keane who was at the time one of the Premier League’s most feared marksmen at Tottenham.
However in a disappointing six-month spell at Anfield, Keane failed to strike a partnership with Fernando Torres, and was sold back to Spurs in January, after scoring seven goals for the club.
The newspaper feels the Keane move was a major mistake, but also praise the former Chelsea boss for being able to recoup most of the cash for the ‘blunder’
“However, luckily for the Spaniard, when he has made a mistake, it hasn’t been when too much money was spent, except maybe with the case of Robbie Keane.”
“Liverpool forked out €25 million for the player and in the second year he was lent out to Tottenham. He never came back.”
“The Spanish manager’s other big signings all worked out quite well, although big bucks were at times not made for the club. Mascherano went to Liverpool for €20 million from West Ham, to be later sold on to Barcelona for €22 million.”
We’re not sure Liverpool, or Ireland, fans would agree with Marca.
Two words spring to mind to provide a watertight argument against Keane being Benitez’s worst buy.
The words?
Alberto and Aquilani.
