Former Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez is looking for his next job after being fired by Greek club Panathinaikos, and he's eyeing up a fifth stint in the Premier League
21:38, 08 Jul 2026
Panathinaikos head coach Rafa Benitez during the warm-up before the AEK vs Panathinaikos match for the 4th round of the Greek Super League playoffs on May 10, 2026. (Photo by Giorgos Arapekos/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Rafael Benitez is without a job after being fired by Panathinaikos(Image: Getty Images)
Former Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez has declared that he is ready to return to the Premier League as he looks for his next management job.
Benitez, who was of course the Reds’ boss from 2004 to 2010 and led them to victory in the 2005 Champions League final, is out of work after being fired from his latest role at Greek club Panathinaikos.
The 66-year-old was dismissed after just seven months in charge of the Athens side, having led them to a fourth-place finish while winning 20 of his 41 games in charge, and now he’s set his sights on a fifth stint managing in the Premier League.
“Remember, I was in Liverpool for six years, Newcastle three years and Chelsea seven/eight months, and we were successful in all these projects, but it seems that people have no patience now,” Benitez told talkSPORT.
“And there are not too many teams in England, in the Premier League, that will say, ‘okay, we’ll go for him’.
“Because now they go for the young coaches that play progressive football, these kind of things, but we are ready. We are ready for another challenge.
Then Everton manager Rafa Benitez speaks with Andros Townsend during the Premier League match against Arsenal at Goodison Park on December 6, 2021
Benitez's last job in the Premier League was with Everton(Image: PAUL ELLIS/AFP via Getty Images)
“And then we are considering not just the Premier League but Serie A – any league that if you can stay around Europe will be fine.
“If not, you have to think about maybe a national team or maybe another project, but to be fair, we are ready again because we have been working on football all our lives and we enjoy that.”
Benitez was appointed Panathinaikos’ manager in October last year, having been without a job for over 20 months after being dismissed by Celta Vigo in 2024.
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Despite getting the club in a good position in both the Greek Super League and the Europa League, Benitez’s season quickly unraveled with just one win in his last nine games in charge, a run which included a 4-0 defeat to Real Betis in the second leg of their last-16 tie.
Explaining his dismissal, Benitez said: “The target was to finish in the top four, and then we started – we were seventh and then we started doing well. They told us, ‘Forget about Europa League‘.
“We finished in the Europa League (last-16) – that was the best result in the last 16 years. We were in the semi-final of the [domestic] cup and we finished fourth.
“But we were doing so well. We were the best team in the second part of the league. We were doing so well that they changed the targets.
Rafael Benitez, head coach of Panathinaikos FC, looks on
Benitez was fired after seven months in charge at Panathinaikos(Image: Europa Press Sports, Europa Press via Getty Images)
“So, when we went to the play-offs, you start the play-offs with the point that you have in the league – that was -11, respecting of the other teams – and then they wanted to win or they wanted to finish second.
“And as soon as we lost the derby – normally the derby against Olympiacos is massive – we lost the derby and they panicked and they changed their minds.
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“And even if we signed five young players in January, they changed everything.
“And then they started the new project like every year, so they have around eight coaches in the last three years or something like that, so it’s quite complicated.”