Yossi Benayoun is out for six months
Yossi Benayoun will miss six months of football after a scan revealed that he had torn his Achilles.
The discovery was made while the Chelsea midfielder was on international duty with Israel for their European qualifiers against Croatia and Greece.
Benayoun had only just returned from a calf injury and was expected to feature for Israel for the qualifying matches.
The Israeli midfielder had picked up the calf injury while playing in Chelsea’s match against Newcastle in the third round of the Carling Cup on the 22 September.
Benayoun has not returned for Chelsea since and it was expected that he would return for Israel’s international games.
Chelsea issued a statement that read, "The Israeli international returned to the club from international duty last week, and will now be out of action for approximately six months."
Benayoun will be a huge loss for Israel and Chelsea. The midfielder has been instrumental in Israel’s qualifying campaign.
The player scored a hat-trick in Israel’s win against Malta and also featured in the 0-0 draw with Georgia.
Chelsea will also miss the versatile midfielder. Benayoun was signed for Chelsea from Liverpool at the start of the season and the player has made most of his appearances from the bench.
Benayoun underwent surgery on his Achilles on Monday and will now spend time recuperating before he starts a long recovery and rehabilitation process.
Chelsea did receive better news with regards to defender Alex and Salomon Kalou who have both recovered from thigh strains and will be fit for the Premier League match against Aston Villa at Villa Park.
Benayoun’s absence will mean that Kalou is likely to feature more from the bench. Daniel Sturridge may also be given more substitute appearances with the Israeli missing.
However, Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti has been dealt a blow and he may look to strengthen his squad in January, due to the Israeli’s injury.
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