The relationship between Everton target Rafa Benitez and his previous clubs is an interesting one.
At Valencia, he is hailed an icon for his two La Liga successes and at Liverpool, he will always be a legend for winning the Champions League.
At Goodison Park, however, his name isn’t exactly met with favouritism. He dubbed the Toffees a “small club” back in 2007 and he is not exaclty the most popular man due to his allegiances with Anfield.
He isn’t exactly thought of in the greatest terms at Real Madrid either. The Spaniard was given the job at the beginning of the 2015/16 season but was sacked midway through the campaign in January.
Marcelo played under Benitez in Spain and the duo could be one that’s reunited at Everton this summer. Senior officials at Goodison Park are said to be on the verge of hiring Benitez as the club’s new manager after talks stalled with Nuno Santo.
This comes just days after interest was registered in Madrid’s legendary full-back, Marcelo.
The 33-year-old is coming towards the end of his career but he’d still be a magnificent capture for the Toffees. This is a defender who has been there and done almost everything there is to do in football.
He is one of the most decorated around with four Champions League titles to his name and could thrive under Benitez.
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The Spaniard extracted an enormous amount from the Brazilian back in 2015 by giving him attacking freedom down the left-hand side.
Marcelo quickly became indispensable to Benitez. Towards the end of October of that season, 61% of his passes had been in the opposition half while no Real player had managed more crosses.
He played as many key passes per game as both Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale while recovering the same number of balls as German orchestrator Toni Kroos.
That was evidently a mesmeric campaign for Marcelo and if he can provide the same output under Benitez in Merseyside, it would be a terrifying duo.
The pair clearly get on with the Brazilian saying the following during the former Newcastle manager’s time in the Spanish capital: "Benitez is an amazing coach, very competitive. He talks to us a lot and shows us where we have to improve, he's on top of it all to make us better."
Taking home a wage packet of £266k-per-week, Marcelo will need to take a pretty hefty pay cut but if he is willing to do so as his career begins to wind down, Marcel Brands and co must sanction this move.
Everton may have Lucas Digne at their disposal but the opportunity to sign a player like Marcelo doesn’t come around very often.