Dalian Yifang manager resigns - paving the way for Rafa Benitez to take lucrative offer in ChinaFormer Newcastle United manager Rafa Benitez, who is now a free agent, has been offered a lucrative contract by Dalian Yifang
Dalian Yifang manager Choi Kang-hee has resigned - paving the way for Rafa Benitez to take charge of the Chinese club.
With Benitez now a free agent after his Newcastle United contract expired on Sunday at midnight, the 59-year-old is able to negotiate with other clubs both home and abroad.
It is understood that Dalian are prepared to pay Benitez more than £12million a year after tax - more than double his salary at St James' Park - to become their manager and that he has spent the past week considering the offer, ever since Newcastle confirmed that he would be departing Tyneside.
While there have been claims that Benitez will wait for a Premier League job to come up, given that his family are still based on The Wirral in Merseyside, he is considering moving to East Asia, having rejected previous lucrative opportunities to do so.
Reports in China even claim that Benitez could be unveiled as Dalian's new manager as soon as Tuesday, with the club currently 10th in the Chinese Super League having collected 17 points from 15 games.
Benitez released a statement via his Twitter account on Monday morning thanking Newcastle fans for the support he received during his three years on Tyneside , and declaring that he is "sad" to depart but that he felt he had to because he did not believe the ambition of the Magpies' hierarchy matched his own.
The Chinese season runs from February through until November, and so if Benitez does head to East Asia he would take charge precisely midway through the campaign.
On Monday, Dalian - who are backed by Wang Jianlin, a businessman worth a reported £17billion and one of the richest men in China - confirmed that South Korean manager Choi had stepped down for "personal reasons", and they are now increasing their efforts to lure Benitez to East Asia.
Should Benitez opt to move to the Dalian Sports Center Stadium then he will link up with his former Napoli captain Marek Hamsik, as well as Belgium international forward Yannick Carrasco, who are both on the club's books.
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