Yossi Benayoun Enjoying Life at Chelsea
Chelsea’s summer signing Yossi Benayoun has said that he is enjoying life at the club ahead of the English Premier League (EPL) kick-off. The Israel national team captain is with his teammates at a training camp in Germany and said he is settling well into his new squad.
Speaking to the club’s website after a training session, Benayoun said: “I feel very good. From the first moment (my teammates) gave me a good feeling like I am already a long time here. I am enjoying every day and getting closer to everyone. I am sure I will have a great time here and hopefully we will be successful.”
Recovering from injury
Benayoun is recovering from an injury and after impressing on his debut against Eintracht Frankfurt on the weekend, the 30-year-old added that he is ready to shine for manager Carlo Ancelotti in the English Premier League champions last pre-season friendly match against Hamburg.
”I trained with the team for the first few days but had an injury with my groin, so I was resting for a week and came back only a few days ago to train. I am sure soon I will be fit enough," said Benayoun.
The versatile midfielder is expected to fill the void left by Joe Cole, after the England international’s contract with Chelsea expired and he joined Benayoun’s former team Liverpool. The Israeli was even handed Cole’s shirt number, ten, when he arrived at his new club. Benayoun expressed his hope that he would not be compared to Cole and smiled as he said that: “I don't think about it. My favourite number is 15, but it is not available! I don't like to compare myself to another player, I come here to do my best and hopefully it will be good enough. Joe is in Liverpool. I wish him the best - I think he is a great player.”
Hope teammate will stay
One of Benayoun’s new teammates, left-back Ashley Cole, has been linked with a move to La Liga giants Real Madrid. Ancelotti has said the player is going nowhere this summer, and his new midfielder expressed hope that he would be lining up with the defender for the new season.
“It is always like this in clubs, you always want your best players to stay. The squad is very strong and it is normal there are offers from other teams, but we really hope Ashley will stay because he is a great player," said Benayoun.
After starting his career with Hapoel Be’er Sheva at the age of nine, Benayoun was being heralded as a ‘genius’ by the time he was 11 years old. His lofty reputation at such a young age saw him being invited to play with Dutch giants Ajax at the age of 15. After becoming the Ajax youth team’s top scorer in his first season, he was offered a professional contract with the club, but Benayoun and his family had failed to settle in Holland and he returned to his former club in Israel.
EPL move for Israeli
After impressing at Hapoel Be’er Sheva, Maccabi Haifa, and La Liga outfit Racing de Santander, Benayoun earned a move to the EPL with West Ham United in 2005. His creativity and hard work ethic saw him score eight goals in his 72 games across two seasons with West Ham before being signed by Liverpool in 2007.
In three seasons at Anfield, Benayoun made 126 appearances in total and scored 28 goals. His most successful season with the Reds came in 2008-09 as he helped the Merseyside team to a second place finish in the EPL.
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