Agent: Rafa Benitez to Real Madrid is just a rumor -- for now

The internet and the sports pages have been alight with talk of a potential move of Rafa Benitez to Real Madrid to take over as manager as the Spanish giants over the last few days. The rumors seem a little odd on the surface, but that hasn't prevented them from taking flight in a big way, to the point that yesterday many were assuming it was just a matter of time before an announcement was made that Rafa was returning to his first club.

One of the advantages of working with such a large and diverse network like SB Nation is that there are some pretty fantastic and dedicated writers spread throughout the globe writing about all sorts of teams. One of those, Lucas Navarrete at our Real Madrid blog, Managing Madrid, managed to track down Rafa's agent, Manuel García Quilón, and had a brief conversation with him about the reports.

This is just a strong rumor on the media, for the moment. Furthermore, Rafa is still preparing what will be a huge game for Napoli ahead. They have not called us...

-Source: Manuel García Quilón to Managing Madrid

The emphasis was added by Lucas to reflect Quilón's tone, and he also felt that Quilón was being "respectful" of Napoli. The implication of that being, yes, this is a real thing, but Rafa and his agent don't want to make it a big thing just yet while Napoli's season is still underway, especially with two huge and vital matches still to play.  It's also respectful to Madrid's manager, seeing as Carlo Ancelotti still hasn't been fired. Yet. Whether you love Rafa, hate him, or are somewhere in between, you've got to appreciate that desire to keep the focus where it needs to be for now.