Rafa Benitez Reportedly Could Lose Real Madrid Pay-off After Perez Criticism

Former Real Madrid manager Rafael Benitez reportedly breached a “clause of silence” when he was critical of the club’s president Florentino Perez during his appearance on BT Sport as a pundit on Wednesday, meaning any pay-off due to the coach could be waived.

ElEconomista.es (h/t Marcos Benito of AS) suggested the agreement was signed by Benitez upon departing Los Blancos earlier in the campaign, having been sacked and replaced by Zinedine Zidane. Benito elaborates on the claims made in his piece:

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The total sum which Benitez received from the club was €4 million euro net, this was the outstanding figure due to the coach should he have completed his contract through to June 30, 2016. The club were also obliged to pay the 55 year old another lump sum for maintaining silence on the motivation behind his dismissal through to July 1, 2016 . His declarations on Wednesday night contravene this clause claim El Economista.

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Benito also quotes the agent of the manager, who claimed “Rafa has already been paid what he is owed by Madrid” and all monies have been received by the 55-year-old in full following the termination of his contract with the club.

During his time on the BT Sport sofa, Benitez was particularly critical of Perez. “He's always around, it's not easy for a manager, especially coming from England, to see the chairman talking with players or talking with the press every single day,” said Benitez of his former boss, per Chris Beesley of the Daily Mirror.

Here’s a reminder of some of the comments Benitez made about his time at the Santiago Bernabeu having been appointed as the successor to Carlo Ancelotti just last summer:

Although Real were the top goalscorers in La Liga when the coach was dismissed, Benitez was never the most popular figure with the Madridistas.

As a renowned pragmatist, the fans never really took to his style of football, and aside from Gareth Bale, he wasn’t able to get the most out of Real’s attacking stars, especially Cristiano Ronaldo. As World Soccer Talk noted here, it seems as though the Portuguese is a lot happier playing under the guidance of Zidane:

According to Benito, these kinds of aforementioned clauses are commonplace in contracts involving Real; it’s suggested they got Tottenham Hotspur to sign one upon completing a deal for Bale in 2013, preventing them from disclosing the amount paid to bring him to Spanish capital, as well as similar deals for Ancelotti and another former manager Jose Mourinho.

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Benitez certainly had some intriguing views about his time at Real Madrid and raised some salient points when it comes to the club. However, having failed in his dream job and at Napoli prior to that, it’s vital in his next role that he has a lot more positive matters to discuss.