Rafa Benitez says player Liverpool signed for £6m is one of the best he's ever managed

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Rafa Benitez has managed some of the very best players in recent football history.

Steven Gerrard is the best player Benitez managed, according to the man himself, but now, speaking to BBC Sport, he's been asked to name the five best players he ever coached.

Benitez has managed some true greats of the game, so he struggled to get the list down to five, instead, naming no fewer than 11 great players he managed.

As you may imagine, the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale received mentions.

However, there was one more surprising name on Benitez's list as he named former Liverpool goalkeeper, Pepe Reina as one of the best players he's ever coached.

Pepe Reina is one of Rafa Benitez's greatest players

Benitez named Reina when discussing the best players he has ever coached.

Benitez worked with Reina at both Liverpool and Napoli, originally signing him from Villarreal for £6m in 2005.

Pep Guardiola is also a fan of Reina, praising him during his time at Aston Villa after a spell together at Barcelona.

"They were asking me the five best players I've ever coached. It's not easy because I've had a lot of them," Benitez said.

"Ronaldo, Benzema, Eto'o, Bale, Torres, Higuain, Cech Reina, Xabi Alonso and Mascherano. The best player I would say is Steven Gerrard.Gerrard was the best one because he was more complete, good in attack and defence, good character. I couldn't say five, so I gave a lot of them, hopefully you can understand that."

Pepe Reina's record for Liverpool compared to Alisson

Pepe Reina's time at Liverpool wasn't the most successful of spells as he won just two trophies with the Reds.

However, it mustn't be forgotten just how good Reina was as Liverpool's goalkeeper.

Indeed, before Alisson Becker wrote his name into Liverpool's history as an all-time great 'keeper, Reina was up there with the best in Anfield history.

Actually, statistically, in a lot of ways, Reina outperformed Alisson for Liverpool.

Reina was almost unbeatable during his first few seasons at Liverpool, winning the Golden Glove in each of his first three years at the club.

However, in his latter years at Liverpool, Reina did make a few high-profile gaffes, and his legacy was somewhat tainted, sadly.

Reina was always a fan favourite at Anfield though, and, in his prime, he was arguably the best goalkeeper in the Premier League.

From Petr Cech to Santiago Canizares, Benitez has worked with some fantastic goalkeepers during his career, and he considered Reina one of the best he's ever seen.

Remarkably, Reina is still playing to this day at the age of 42 for Como in Italy, managed by his former Spain teammate, Cesc Fabregas.