Yossi Benayoun is one of the most famous Israeli football players of our time. Of course, everyone expected much more from him, as in his youth considered him a real football genius, which could become one of the best in the world. But it didn’t turn out quite like that, and Yossi Benayoun, although he became a prominent figure in the football world, was unable to reach the very top. How did the career of a player who predicted an incredible future develop?
Carier start
At the age of fifteen, Yossi Benayoun began to appear on the covers of Israeli football magazines, as his talent was simply incredible. At the age of sixteen, he went to Amsterdam, where he played for the Ajax youth team, known as one of the main clubs in Europe, capable of revealing young talents to the maximum. Young Yossi Benayoun showed such incredible football that the club's management immediately offered him a four-year contract. But Yossi himself and his family did not feel well in Holland, so they decided to refuse the contract and return to Israel. There, a young attacking midfielder spent an incredibly outstanding season for his home club Hapoel from the city of Be'er Sheva, practically saving him from relegation to the lower division. The club management decided that it makes no sense to spoil the career of a brilliant junior, so Yossi at the age of 18 turned out to be in the strongest club in Israel - Maccabi Haifa.
Talent development
Naturally, it was no secret to anyone that Yossi Benayoun, whose statistics were already simply astounding, would eventually move to Europe and play for some top club. But this was yet to happen in the future - for now Benayoun spent four years at Maccabi, for which he played 140 matches and scored 57 goals. This was an impressive indicator, and it was Benayoun who became one of the main creators of success - in 2001 and 2002 Maccabi won the country's championship titles. Such indicators did not go unnoticed by European clubs, but this time far from leading. In 2002, a 22-year-old player moved to the Spanish Racing, where he began his ascent.
Access to the European level
Benayoun spent three years at Racing, playing in 104 matches and scoring twenty goals. However, he quickly made it clear that he did not want to stay in the club and was dreaming of a promotion - preferably in the English Premier League. There were rumors immediately about his transfer to various English clubs, and in 2005 the 25-year-old player still moved to England, namely to West Ham.
Relocation to England
In the new club, Benayoun immediately got a seat at the base - not for nothing that almost four million euros were paid for him. West Ham really wanted to keep the player, and two years later agreed to extend the contract - but Benayoun suddenly refused, choosing to go to Liverpool. West Ham was left with compensation in the amount of seven and a half million euros.
New challenge
In Liverpool, the 27-year-old player also got a seat at the base and laid out to the full to restore his current club to its former greatness - unfortunately, he did not succeed, and for three years in Liverpool he did not win a single trophy. But it was here that the player reached his maximum, which attracted the attention of Chelsea himself - the club gave seven million euros for the Israeli.
Complete failure
As often happens in the case of Chelsea transfers, the player was purchased, but he was not needed. Benayoun spent a year in reserve before being rented out for a year at Arsenal FC. There he became a base player, played in 25 matches and scored six goals. But the London club refused to buy the player - Chelsea asked for too much. Therefore, after renting at Arsenal FC, Benayoun returned to West Ham, who forgave him the old. He spent a year in this club, but he already passed very hard, so he did not even gain a foothold in the base. The club, which previously worshiped the Israelite, did not offer him a contract. As a result, Benayoun was left without a club and stayed in an intermediate state for six months, until the KPR club offered him a contract for six months. The player finished the season pretty well, but as a result decided that it was time for him to return to his homeland. For the past two seasons, he played for the Maccabi club of his youth. The contract of the 36-year-old winger expires this summer, and it is not yet known whether he will play another season here or have completed his career. In any case, behind his impressive football years.