Rafa Benitez has been confirmed as the new manager of Serie A club Napoli, and will lead them in the Champions League next season.

The Spaniard enhanced his reputation by winning the Europa League with Chelsea earlier this month, and was looking for an interesting challenge after his successful interim role at Stamford Bridge came to an end.

Benitez remains a cult hero at Liverpool, after managing the Reds to Champions League glory in 2005, and he will find the Napoli faithful a similar breed of loyal fan to those at Anfield.

Announcing Benitez as the replacement for Walter Mazzarri, who left Stadio San Paolo despite leading Napoli to an impressive second-place finish in the Serie A, club president Aurelio De Laurentiis called the Champions League winning manager a “great man” and “a leader.”

"Rafa Benítez is the new coach of Napoli. A great man with international experience. A leader," De Laurentiis tweeted.

Benitez meanwhile, expressed his excitement at the task that awaits him upon his return to the Serie A, where he has unfinished business following his unceremonious sacking by Inter Milan.

"Now that the agreement is confirmed, I can say I am very happy and very satisfied for having committed to a great club with an illustrious heritage like Napoli,” Benitez said.

“I understand the history of the city and how the club forms a fundamental part of the culture and traditions of Naples.

"I must confess that I am extremely excited. We will begin from the start as we mean to go on and we will fight to achieve success for the fans."

First order of business for Rafa will be what to do about Napoli’s Uruguayan international striker, Edinson Cavani, who is a reported big-money transfer target for a host of top teams, including Chelsea.