Benitez fights to keep homesick Herrera

RAFAEL BENITEZ is fighting to keep a key member of his Spanish backroom staff at Anfield.

Chief scout and reserve team boss Paco Herrera always intended to return home after spending two seasons helping Benitez’s rebuilding programme.

Whereas Benitez and his assistant Pako Ayesteran have both brought their families to England, Herrera’s have stayed in Spain.

But Benitez, mindful of the critical part Herrera has played behind the scenes, rebuilding the reserve side and helping to provide half of the players who have taken Liverpool into the FA Youth Cup semi-finals, is trying to come up with a solution to the problem.

Benitez said: “It’s a possibility he will stay, but it’s also possible he will return to Spain because his family is there. We are thinking about a solution.”

Herrera has brought in a massive influx of young talent not only from Europe, but also from England.