Former Liverpool legendary manager Rafael Benítez reportedly close to being appointed as the new Panathinaikos head coach..
2025-10-23 10:06
Several Greek media outlets reported on Wednesday that former Liverpool Spanish legendary manager Rafael Benítez is close to being appointed as the new Panathinaikos head coach.
According to reports, Benítez flew to Greece earlier this month at the invitation of Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis to discuss the possibility of taking over their managerial position.
Although the two sides disagreed on some philosophies, Marinakis arranged for Benítez to watch Olympiacos matches, the club which Marinakis also holds a majority shares in.
Later, Benítez received an approach from Olympiacos' arch-rivals Panathinaikos.
After three weeks of negotiations, Benítez and Panathinaikos have theoretically reached an agreement.
It is expected that he will sign a two-and-a-half-year contract with Panathinaikos which runs until the summer of 2027.
The two sides are currently finalizing the personnel of Benítez's assistant coaching staff. Once these matters are resolved, he can be officially announced as the new head coach of the Greek Super League giants.
If this appointment is completed, Benítez will return to coaching after a year and a half since his sacking from Celta Vigo.
Panathinaikos announced in mid-last month that its former Portuguese head coach Rui Vitória had been sacked due to poor results.
Since then, Greek coach Christos Kontis has taken over the interim managerial duties.
Beniítez succeeded the late French coach Gerard Houllier as Liverpool manager in the summer of 2004.
During his five-year spell as the manager at Anfield, Benítez coached in a total of 350 games for the defending Premier League champions, achieving 194 wins, 77 draws and 79 losses, with a win percentage of 55.4%. During which he has also won the FA Cup once, the Community Shield once, the Champions League once, the UEFA Super Cup once, and reached the FIFA World Cup final and the League Cup final once each.
