Newcastle United have appointed Rafael Benitez as their new manager on a three-year contract.

The Spaniard succeeds Steve McClaren, who was sacked earlier on Friday after nine months in the job, and is tasked with preserving Newcastle's top-flight status with the club 19th, one point adrift of safety.

Benitez has been itching to return to the Premier League after a six-year spell at Liverpool, with whom he won the Champions League in 2005 and the FA Cup a year later, and a six-month interim role at Chelsea, which resulted in him landing the 2013 Europa League title.

Since leaving Stamford Bridge three years ago, he spent two seasons with Napoli before being named Real Madrid boss in June 2015. The 55-year-old struggled for acceptance at the Santiago Bernabeu, however, and was dismissed in January with the club third in La Liga.