English Soccer: Benayoun back with Blues

Benayoun is expected to speak to his new boss in the next few days as he looks to resolve his future.

By ALLON SINAI
YOSSI BENAYOUN 370 (photo credit: Asaf Kliger)
YOSSI BENAYOUN 370
(photo credit: Asaf Kliger)
Yossi Benayoun officially returned to Chelsea Thursday after his loan at fellow London club West Ham United ended.
Benayoun, who hasn’t played for West Ham since November 11 due to knee trouble, made just six Premier League appearances for the Hammers.
The 32-year-old midfielder played for West Ham for two seasons between 2005 and 2007 and decided to move back to East London last summer after not forseeing himself being in the plans of then-Chelsea manager Roberto Di Matteo.
Di Matteo has since been replaced by Rafa Benitez, who Benayoun knows well from their time together at Liverpool for which the Israeli midfielder played between 2007 and 2010.
Benayoun is expected to speak to his new boss in the next few days as he looks to resolve his future.
Benayoun, who is under contract at Chelsea until the end of this season, was restricted to 10 appearances for the Blues in 2010/11 due to an Achilles injury and took part in 25 matches on loan at Arsenal last season.
Since leaving Liverpool two-and-ahalf years ago, Benayoun has only made a total of 33 league appearances for Chelsea, Arsenal and West Ham.
The decline in his club career also resulted in Benayoun being dropped from the Israel national team squad for professional reasons for the first time in 14 years in October.
Israel coach Eli Gutman recalled him for the friendly match against Belarus in November, but Benayoun missed out through injury and remains four appearances shy of equaling Arik Benado’s national team record of 94.