MADRID (AFP) - Rafael Benitez will take charge of Real Madrid next season after the club confirmed he had signed a three-year deal with the Spanish giants on Wednesday.

"Real Madrid will present today, Wednesday, June 3, Rafa Benitez as the new coach of the first team for the next three seasons," the club said in a statement.

The appointment brings Benitez's coaching career full circle as he returns to the club where he made his first steps as a youth team coach in the early 1990s.

Benitez, the former Liverpool manager, is also returning to Spain for the first time in over a decade after making a name for himself with two league titles in three years at Valencia between 2001 and 2004.