Former Liverpool manager, and walking embodiment of football marmite, Rafa Benitez has now been confirmed as the man to take over the reigns at the Madrid madhouse from Carlo Ancelotti.
While Rafa did win La Liga with Valencia, and a Champions League with a Liverpool side that punched way above their weight, the appointment of Benitez has been seen as underwhelming by a large number of fans.
Now that it's official, here are a few things we expect to see at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium this season.
Alvaro Arbeloa will be given a contract extension.
Surely this will be Rafa's first order of business. Alvaro Arbeloa put an end to an awful string of attempts to replace Steve Finnan as Liverpool's right back, and now while he doesn't see as much playing time as Dani Carvajal, he is seen as a leader in the Real dressing room.
Dirk Kuyt will "do a job" if Gareth Bale fails to find form.
Gareth Bale will be linked with a move away from Madrid a hell of a lot this summer, but early indications suggest that he will stay put. If he does stay, then every touch he takes next season will be judged ruthlessly, and if he fails to deliver than Rafa will surely turn to the tried and tested reliability of Dirk Kuyt, who will hassle defenders and slot home penalties like nobodies business. Currently doing a job for Fenerbache, Dirk could have one last swansong under Rafa at Madrid.
Rumours of a rift Cristiano Ronaldo will be fabricated by Marca.
The one is an absolute certainty. The expert fictional writers at Marca will no doubt hire a lip-reader to make their accusations rock solid.
Andrea Dossena will be brought in to add "depth".
He did it at Liverpool, he did it at Napoli, so surely Rafa will be bringing Andrea Dossena in to push Marcelo for that left back spot.
Ok, maybe not.
Ryan Babel will never play for Real Madrid.
Benitez on his way to Real? He will make Ronaldo a great defender...
— Ryan Babel (@Ryanbabel) May 28, 2015
We already knew this one, but with this snarky tweet the Dutchman who promised so much has ruined his best ever chance of playing for Real.
Stat comparisons to Ancelotti will be rolled out every single week.
The done thing with new managers is to update us all on how they are doing compared to their predecessor week after week. Ancelotti's perfectly reasonable job will be held as a barometer for Rafa's success.
Rafa will be sacked within a year.
Regardless as to how he performs, the first shiny new manager that catches Perez's eye will be brought in. Rafa at Real Madrid is never going to be a long term deal.
