Former Liverpool striker Ryan Babel has issued a cheeky response to Rafa Benitez's claim he has not moved to China just for the money.
Benitez, 59, left his role as Newcastle United manager at the end of June following the expiry of his contract at St James Park and earlier this week was announced as the new boss of China Super League side Dalian Yifang on a reported £12m a year contract.
It has been suggested in some quarters that the former Reds manager - who won the European Cup and the FA Cup in his six seasons in charge at Anfield - was attracted to the Far East by the lucrative salaries on offer but Benitez, speaking on his own official website, denied such claims, saying: "I have had offers of greater financial significance during my career, but they weren’t the project I was looking for.
Replying to a Mail Online tweet containing Benitez's assertion that he had turned down bigger offers, Babel - who has just signed for Turkish club Galatasaray after a short spell at Fulham - simply tweeted: "Lol".
Benitez signed Babel for Liverpool from Ajax for £11.5m in the summer of 2007 and the Dutchman showed some promise under the Spaniard in his early seasons, memorably making a big impact when coming off the substitute's bench in an epic Champions League quarter-final second leg against Arsenal in 2008.
Babel scored 22 goals in 146 games during his three and half seasons at Anfield before joining German side Hoffenheim for a reported £5.8m in January 2011.
