Rafael Benitez has seemingly confirmed he is not in the running to replace Neil Lennon at Celtic Park.

The 60-year-old left Chinese Super League side Dalian Professional by mutual consent back in January and remains out of work, but it doesn’t look like his next role will be in Glasgow.

Benitez eyeing Premier League return

Reports shortly after his Dalian Professional exit claimed that the Spaniard was set to replace Lennon in the Parkhead dugout, however, a move never materialised.

Lennon resigned from his position at the end of February, with the Hoops now waiting until a director of football is brought in before landing a new first-team boss.

Talking to The Times, cited by the Daily Record, Benitez admitted the right project ‘is not there at the moment’, revealing he wants to return to the Premier League.

“The priority is England. Why? Because obviously I like the Premier League and my family is here.

"I have a lot [of offers] from the UAE, United States, Brazil, China, but I want to stay in Europe. And I want to stay in England.

“If it’s the right one, we can do it tomorrow but the project, the competitive team, is not there at the moment so we have to wait. But I don’t want to stay without working.”

Transfer Tavern take

Several Celtic fans wanted Benitez in prior to Lennon’s resignation, so those supporters will be gutted at his latest comments.

However, to us, we never thought a move to Celtic Park was a realistic one. The Spaniard’s salary was £12m in China, double his Newcastle pay packet.

Lennon was on £2.4m-a-year during his second stint as Hoops boss, so financially, a reported deal looked impossible.

In other news: Celtic keen on 24-year-old ace who has 12 assists this season, find out more here.