Benayoun joins West Ham

Yossi Benayoun joined West Ham United on a one-year loan deal from Chelsea, returning to the Hammers.

By ALLON SINAI
Yossi Benayoun 370 (photo credit: Reuters)
Yossi Benayoun 370
(photo credit: Reuters)
Yossi Benayoun joined West Ham United on a one-year loan deal from Chelsea on Friday night, returning to the Hammers five years after leaving for Liverpool.
The 32-year-old midfielder played for West Ham for two seasons between 2005 and 2007, and decided to move back to East London after being told that he is not in Chelsea’s plans for the coming season, the third and final of his contract at the European champion.
Benayoun was restricted to 10 appearances for Chelsea in 2010/11 due to an Achilles injury and took part in 25 matches on loan at Arsenal last season.
“After a long and busy day I can say I had three offers from PL clubs..but not from Liverpool or Arsenal like some reports,” Benayoun wrote on his Twitter account.
“But I’m very happy to confirm that I will join on loan to West Ham! I can’t wait to start...great club.”
The final day of the European August transfer window was extremely busy as expected, with Manchester City signing midfielder Javi Garcia from Benfica for an undisclosed fee, as well as Brazil international defender Maicon, Scott Sinclair and Richard Wright.
The 25-year-old Garcia is expected to fill the gap left by Nigel De Jong, who joined AC Milan earlier in the day, while right-back Maicon joined from Inter Milan and Sinclair arrived from Premier League rivals Swansea.
Elsewhere, Real Madrid agreed to take Ghana midfielder Michael Essien on loan from Chelsea for the rest of the season.
The 29-year-old, who joined Chelsea from Olympique Lyon in 2005, links up again with former Stamford Bridge boss Jose Mourinho.
The combative midfielder has won two Premier League titles, four FA Cups and one Champions League at the London club, but had his 2011/12 campaign ruined by a knee injury and struggled to win a regular place in the Chelsea starting 11 on his return.
Reuters contributed to this report