What Does the Future Hold for Rafa Benitez and Liverpool Football Club

There is just one more week left of the Premier League campaign, and for the Liverpool faithful the season can not end soon enough.

Liverpool's fans have had to endure one of the worst campaigns in recent years.

Liverpool look set to finish in seventh place in the Premier League, their lowest league position in ten years.

The club has only ever finished lower than seventh in the Premier League once. In the 1993/94 season, Liverpool occupied eighth position come the end of the season.

Due to their low league position, Liverpool will have to settle for the Europa League next year.

The Liverpool supporters will have to watch either Tottenham or Manchester City fill the void they left in the Champions League next year.

Not only is this a bitter disappoint to both the club and their fans, but there are also financial ramifications that the club will suffer due to their omission

Liverpool will enter the summer after a tumultuous season, with shadows of doubt being cast over multiple areas.

Star striker Fernando Torres has been struggling for fitness over the past two years, and with Spain a major favourite to go deep in the World Cup it is safe to assume that the Spaniard will not receive a great deal of rest during the offseason.

Due to Liverpool's failure to make the Champions League, and Torres' recent comments about the Premier League being excessively physical, Europe's elite may see it as the perfect time to make a move for Torres.

Liverpool's manager Rafael Benitez has been heavily linked with a move away from Anfield.

Italian giants Juventus seem to be the most eager to land the services of the Spanish manager.

The short-term and long-term future of the Liverpool board is also in disarray.

Current owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett have placed Liverpool up for sale in recent weeks, and are looking to get away from the club and the £237 million worth of debt.

As for the squad, Rafa Benitez has said that he needs at least five new signings in the summer.

But where are the transfer funds coming from?

Surely the two American owners are not going to want to place money into a company there are trying to offload.

In recent games, Benitez has decided to leave an international right back—Philipp Degen—on the bench rather than bring him into the first team.

This speaks volumes to the problem Liverpool have.

Their team is extremely shallow in depth, and when Torres is not playing they struggle to score goals.

A bright point in a very poor year for Liverpool was the contract extension of Pepe Riena.

Liverpool's No.1 goalkeeper, who sports the number twenty-five, has become one of, if not the best goalkeeper in the Premier League.

The Reds have to build on the extension of Riena's contract by ensuring they keep the Spanish connection alive.

Both Fernando Torres and Rafael Benitez must be retained during the summer.

Liverpool are swimming against the tide but allowing Rafa Benitez to depart to Juventus would result in the Reds drowning.