Rafa Benitez 'has applied' for Leicester City job amid Brendan Rodgers rumours

Rafa Benítez has apparently 'applied' to become the next Leicester City manager, according to Richard Keys.

The ex- Everton and Liverpool manager has been out of work since January after being sacked by the former only six-and-a-half months after arriving at Goodison Park the previous summer to replace Real Madrid-bound Carlo Ancelotti. Benítez has been a consistent feature in the bookies' odds to become the next City manager should a vacancy arise and is currently the fourth favourite behind Brentford boss Thomas Frank as well as fellow out-of-work options Sean Dyche and Mauricio Pochettino.

The 62-year-old has also managed Chelsea, on an interim basis, and Newcastle United, with whom he was relegated for the first time after only being appointed in March before bringing them straight back up from the Championship. Leicester could become Benítez's fifth Premier League club, but Brendan Rodgers remains very much the manager.

Speaking about the difficulty of the Everton job due to his ties with their red cross-city rivals in a sit-down interview with Sky Sports News, the Spaniard has drawn the ire of Keys, who : "The gall of the man. How dare he?"

Adding, "I hope he’s given his settlement figure back to Everton now he’s realised what we all told him and [majority owner Farhad] Moshiri," before revealing what he has apparently been told by people at Leicester.

"My friends at Leicester tell me Benítez has applied for that job. Is there a vacancy?"