Rafa Benitez claims nobody at Chelsea put an offer to him in the wake of Andre Villas-Boas' departure from the Blues' managerial hot-seat.
Spaniard never in running for Chelsea job, but is open to Prem return
Rafa Benitez claims nobody at Chelsea put an offer to him in the wake of Andre Villas-Boas' departure from the Blues' managerial hot-seat.
Once Villas-Boas was removed from his post, speculation regarding possible successors kicked into overdrive.
It was suggested early on that an interim appointment would be made, and Benitez was among those touted for the role.
Having previously taken in a six-year spell at Liverpool, during which time he lifted the UEFA Champions League, the Spaniard's knowledge of the Premier League and European competition was expected to work in his favour.
Chelsea, however, opted to hand the reins to Roberto Di Matteo in an agreement that will initially run until the end of the season.
Project
Benitez says he was aware of the rumours linking him with the Stamford Bridge job, but insists he was never in the running.
"I'm waiting for a good offer in England, my family is settled here and I didn't have the right offer so far," he said.
"I'm not worried about it, I need to find the right club and the right project.
"I heard a lot of rumours about Chelsea but I didn't have a proper offer on the table."
Benitez, speaking at the Soccerex conference, has also given his take on this season's Premier League title race, and has warned Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini not to get caught up in mind games with Manchester United counterpart Sir Alex Ferguson.
Experience
"As a manager you need to worry about your job and your team, not the mind games," he said.
"People are talking about mind games with Man U and City. Both teams are very good teams and if City win their next match 5-0 people will say Mancini is not affected by the mind games. If they lose it's 'oh, the mind games'.
"When you have a lot of foreign players normally they don't read the newspapers so the mind games for them are nothing.
"I don't think that it's important or makes a big difference. The main thing is if you have a good team you can win all the mind games, if you don't have a good team you can't.
"I think it [the title race] will be tough until the end. City have enough quality and United have the confidence now and the experience."
