“Rafael Benitez is in Liverpool tonight having dinner with his family,” his agent Manolo Garcia Quilon said. “There is absolutely nothing going on at this time with the Paris-SG.
“Rafa insists there is nothing with PSG. He never talked to the club and he has no Paris trip in his agenda in the coming days.”
Benitez has not been in charge of any club since his dismissal from Italian giants Inter Milan on Dec. 23. He said last October that he was interested in managing again, but would only consider offers from clubs capable of winning trophies. He also said he would like to return to the Liverpool hotseat after Kenny Dalglish retires.
The Benitez to PSG report was also denied by his friend, Guillem Balague, a journalist at Spanish sports daily AS, but he says talks are under way between the club and the Spanish manager.
“I insist: Rafa hasn’t signed for PSG and is not about to happen,” he tweeted. “Conversations continue but that’s all… No ha firmado por el PSG.”
It is unknown what the nature of these conversations are and how advanced they may be. But the 51-year old’s agent insists there has been no contact with PSG and a respected journalist insists conversations have taken place. The Al-Jazeera report could be accurate because it shares ownership with the French club.
PSG has demonstratably improved on the field in nearly two and one half seasons under Kombouare. But expectations have boomed this season after its new owners, the Qatar Investment Authority (QSI) bought a 70 percent stake in the club in May. It financed a lavish spending spree, bringing in £72.9 million ($114.5 million) worth of talent including the £38.6 million ($60.6 million) Argentine Javier Pastore.
Despite recent success, speculation about Kombouare’s PSG future has been rife since May. PSG is in second in the league after 16 games, but QSI installed Leonardo as PSG’s sporting director in July and the Brazilian immediately assumed control over the soccer operations at the club. He may look to replace Koumbaure with a manager of his choosing.
The low-profile Kombouare is played for PSG from 1990-95 and became its manager in 2009. This is his third season in charge of the capital club guiding it to a 13th place finish in Ligue 1 in 2010 and fourth in 2011. PSG also won the 2010 French Cup and made it to the final 2011.
Leonardo replaced Benitez at Inter Milan, guiding the former European champions to victory in the 2011 Coppa Italia.
Photo via Flickr/Liverpoolfc.ge
