Rafa Benitez secured his latest return to the Premier League on Wednesday when he was hired as manager of Everton, the local rival of his longtime former club Liverpool.

Everton said Benitez signed a three-year contract.

The Spanish coach will take charge of his fourth English top-flight team — after Liverpool, Chelsea and Newcastle — and is back in work five months after leaving Chinese club Dalian Professional because of family reasons during the pandemic.

Everton turned to the 61-year-old Benitez following the unexpected departure this month of Carlo Ancelotti, who joined Real Madrid after 18 months at Goodison Park.

It will go down as a slightly controversial appointment given Benitez’s close ties with Liverpool, which he managed from 2004-10 and led to the Champions League title in 2005. His family has continued to live in Merseyside.