The Liverpool legend who influenced new Sheffield Wednesday boss Xisco Munoz the most

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola is, of course, a case in point but for new Sheffield Wednesday boss Xisco Munoz, it’s a man whose glory came 35 miles down the road from the Etihad Stadium where the inspiration to succeed comes from.

Xisco played under former Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez at Valencia and when asked who has the biggest influence on him as a player, the new Owls coach, unveiled this week aas Darren Moore’s replacement, quickly pointed to one man.

“Rafa Benitez,” he said. “The relationship with Rafa was special and he taught me a lot of things. He showed me in one of the most important moments what the most important thing was. You want to win and he got me into that mindset.

“My kids don’t love me for what I know about football, they love me because sometimes I give them chocolate. I had a lot of good coaches but Rafa gave me good chocolate!“

Now Rafa’s at Celta but he was one of the first Spanish coaches here and he always spoke very well about England. He’s a legend with a big history in all his clubs. We will see how he does in Spain now.”

Munoz takes charge of his first match as Wednesday boss this afternoon, when the Owls travel to take on York City in a friendly at the LNER Community Stadium,