Manuel Pellegrini, David Moyes on the road to replace Rafael Benitez?

Manuel Pellegrini’s agent, Jesus Martinez, has posed another worry to Rafa’s woes as he claimed a middle man representing Chelsea discovered the availability of the Malaga manager. Martinez also asserted that although Pellegrini has a contract with the Spanish Club until 2015, he would love to manage in the Premier League and is deciding about the same.

“Manuel has a contract with Malaga. I think that in April and May we will be clear about what will happen with his future. Our first intention is to respect our commitment, but it also depends on what the conditions are. We had a formal offer from Roma, but we rejected it. It was less than 15 days ago, but we discarded it outright because we are in the middle of the season. Chelsea and other clubs have asked, but only through intermediaries, nothing official. Manuel would love to coach in the English Premier League, as he would in Germany, Italy and other important leagues.”

Likewise, David Moyes, the Everton manager whose contract celebrates its 11th anniversary with the club in a month, said that he will wait until the end of the season to decide his future. He is yet to show indications of whether he will extend his contract at Goodison Park or root for big money shift to Chelsea. Besides being short on finances, Everton has constantly exceeded expectations under David. Yet, he refuses to commit to Everton.

“I’ll give as much as I can, but I’ve said – and I’ve spoken with the chairman – that I want to see how the team do. I want to see how we do in the cups, I want to see how we do in the league, and it’s more than likely I won’t make a decision until the end of the season.”

Moyes’ immediate target is the FA Cup fifth round tie at League One Oldham, who upset Liverpool 3-2 in their previous encounter.

Whilst preparing to face Brentford in tomorrow’s FA Cup replay, Chelsea’s recent failure to impress has left Rafa solitary while news of his future replacement is fuelling the fan fire. The appearance of Torres on the field is still doubtful as the pressure builds on Rafael Benitez, who has been infamous at Stamford Bridge ever since he replaced Roberto di Matteo.