Ben-Haim not fazed by City's Arab owners

Manchester City's Israel international says he has no concerns about the possible impact City's new owners could have on his career.

By JEREMY LAST
tal ben-haim 88 (photo credit: )
tal ben-haim 88
(photo credit: )
Manchester City's Israel international Tal Ben-Haim has said he has no concerns about the possible impact City's new owners could have on his career. Last week City was bought by the Abu Dhabi United Group, the trillion-dollar economic fund of the royal family of the Gulf state which doesn't not recognize Israel. "I don't think it should be a problem," Ben-Haim told The Guardian in an interview published on Saturday. The star center back moved to Manchester in the summer after playing for London team Chelsea, which is owned by billionaire businessman Roman Abramovich, for a year. "I have just left a club that has a Jewish owner. Now I'm playing a club that has Arab owners. But we're talking about professional football here. If I'm playing well I should be in the team. If I'm not, I won't. "It's a professional club and I don't see it making any difference. It shouldn't have any influence on my career whatsoever," he said. The Guardian said Abu Dhabi's ruling Al Nahyan family "was prominently involved in a centre that reputedly hosted anti-Semitic speakers a few years ago." But Ben-Haim, who fell out of favor at Chelsea after the club's manager Jose Mourinho was replaced by Israeli Avraham Grant a year ago, said: "The important thing for me is that I have the opportunity to start playing football regularly again. "I'm enjoying myself at City and I want to make up for lost time because, at Chelsea, I was denied that chance. That was very difficult for me but I want to look forward rather than back. So Chelsea is history to me. City is all that matters." Manchester City made headlines with the acquisition of Brazilian striker Robinho from Real Madrid last week but still lost 3-1 at home to Chelsea on Saturday. Although he started his team's three previous league games this season, Ben-Haim was dropped from the opening lineup for the Chelsea clash. The defender is practically a Premier League veteran, with this being his fourth season in the English top flight, and is joined by Portsmouth's Ben Sahar, Liverpool's Yossi Benayoun and Bolton's Tamir Cohen. Ben-Haim said he feels comfortable in England, especially when comparing the culture to his homeland. "For me, the Premier League is the best in the world. Plus I really like the culture in England. It's very different to Israel. The people here are very polite," he explained. "In Israel - how can I describe it? - everyone is always beeping their car horns. It's a lot warmer over there and people get hot and upset. It's beep, beep, beep! Plus they are upset about the [political] situation. "That situation is better now but the people are still not as relaxed as here."