Rafa Benitez accepts he needs to sign his new contract at Liverpool.

Benitez said: "If you have a one year contract you have nothing- and I only have 18 months left. If people realise the manager only has that time left, he's dead.

"I have between 10-12 assistants whose contracts run out in June."

Benitez also denied he wants total control of transfers: "I never asked for absolute power. Capacity to make decisions and to manoeuvre? Yes."

The delay has led to fears he could be tempted back to Spain.

"I hope I can stay here for a long time," he said. "Would Real Madrid be the icing on the cake in the career of any manager? No doubt about it.

"But that sounds like the final stages of someone's career and that isn't my case."