Yossi Benayoun has revealed that he is relishing the new challenge at Chelsea. After three years with Liverpool, much of the time spent in the Liverpool Hospitality Tickets rather than on the pitch, the Israel international finally quit Merseyside when he joined the Blues in a £5million move in July.

A niggling groin injury halted his progress in pre-season but Benayoun is determined to make an impact for Carlo Ancelotti's side as the Blues look to defend their domestic titles.

"There are a lot of good players, big players, for me it is the beginning and I have to work hard and prove I can bring something to this club," said Benayoun.

"The only thing I can promise is I will work hard and do my best, and hopefully it will be good enough.

"I had offers from a few teams but when Chelsea came in for me it was the obvious and only thing to think about, and I am glad it came out in the end."

Yossi Benayoun made his last appearance for Liverpool against the Blues on May 2, when Chelsea took a giant step towards the league title with a 2-0 win.

Alex has showered praises on new signing, Yossi Benayoun. Alex, 28, has been preparing with the rest of the squad for the campaign ahead without the club's World Cup 2010 contingent. Despite missing the likes of John Terry, Ricardo Carvalho, Didier Drogba and Frank Lampard, he has been kept on his toes by the signing from Liverpool.

Speaking to the club's official website, Alex praised Yossi Benayoun's impact since being snapped up by manager Carlo Ancelotti.

"He is a good man, he is experienced and I think he will help us this season. We need players of this quality,' Alex said.

"He is difficult to mark when we do this in training - attackers v defenders - and I have to have more concentration in defence."

LIVERPOOL insist they have received no approach for Yossi Benayoun – but the midfielder looks set to leave Anfield this summer.

Reports claiming the Reds have rejected a £4million bid for the Israeli from Chelsea are wide of the mark.

However, the Premier League champions are interested in the 30-year-old and Benayoun has made no secret of his desire to move to Stamford Bridge.

Benayoun, who signed a new four-year deal last summer, was mysteriously left out of Liverpool’s squad for the final game of the season at Hull City.

A switch to Russia initially looked on the cards with CSKA and Spartak Moscow vying for his services, while his agent recently revealed he could be tempted by a move to Roma.

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Liverpool winger Yossi Benayoun has stated that an imminent move away from the Merseyside club is unlikely, two days prior to his side's clash with Atletico Madrid in the Europa League semi-final.

The 29-year-old Israeli feels that the club's future in European competition will not be a deciding factor with regards to his immediate plans, although Benayoun has not ruled out a future move away from the Anfield club.

"I have three more years left on my contract here at Liverpool but I’d rather concentrate on the present and see out this disappointing season," he told the Mail Online.

"As far as I am concerned, failure to reach the Champions League should not be a reason not to continue at Liverpool. At the moment, I’m at one of the world’s biggest clubs and I’m enjoying it here.

"I have a few good seasons left in me and hope that the pinnacle of my career is still ahead. I still might receive an offer in the future which could not be turned down. Who knows?"

Yossi Benayoun's agent maintains the midfielder is happy at Liverpool and is not planning a summer exit to big-spending Manchester City.

Claims that the Eastlands club are trailing the Israel captain have cast more doubt over the player's future.

Agent Ronen Kastav said: "It is a great compliment, but Yossi is very happy at Liverpool and only in the summer agreed a new four-year contract."

YOSSI BENAYOUN insisted Liverpool’s season starts here after last night’s 4-0 drubbing of Stoke City at Anfield.

Glen Johnson crowned his home debut with a man of the match performance, scoring a six-yard scissor-kick on the stroke of half time after Fernando Torres had opened his new season account inside five minutes.

Then in the second half Dirk Kuyt finished a sensational passing move in front of the Kop on 78 minutes before David Ngog came off the bench to net an injury time fourth for Rafa Benitez’s title chasers.

Benayoun believes the team performance was the ideal tonic to Sunday’s opening game defeat at White Hart Lane.

With Premier rivals Manchester United slipping up at Burnley, the Israeli international says confidence has gone back through the roof inside the Anfield dressing room.

“It was very important for us to win our first game at home, especially after what happened at Tottenham,” he said.

“We never expected to lose that game and so it was very important for us to recover quick and get that win. We want to start our season now.

“We were lucky that we had a quick game to recover from the Tottenham game, we did many things better especially in the second half and we well deserved the win.

“We wanted it more tonight I think. We ran more, we pressed more, we worked harder. The first half at Tottenham they had the ball, the possession for large parts of the game.

Yossi Benayoun was superb in his 20 minute cameo against Spurs yesterday and looked like the only Liverpool player on the pitch who was capable of creating anything. After his excellent contribution last season, Benayoun should be starting every game but he continues to be ignored by Rafa Benitez.

I really can’t understand why Benayoun didn’t start at White Hart Lane; he really came into his own last season and the momentum he built up should have been allowed to continue. Instead, one of Liverpool’s only proven flair players was dumped on the bench. Again.

Take a look at Benayoun’s record from last season:

League/CL starts - 24 (21 league/3 CL)
Goals – 9
Assists – 6
Total: 15 goals scored/created in 24 games.

*Scores/created a goal in 63% of games in which he starts
* 8 of Benayoun ‘s goals and ALL assists came when he STARTED
* Last season: 15 sub appearances – Only 1 goal scored/created.

The stats speak for themselves: start Benyoun and he will score/create goals. Use him as a sub and he will score/create next to nothing.

Benitez undoubtedly has access to these figures but he still relegates Benayoun to the bench. A similar situation occurred with Peter Crouch, who at one point had a record of 38 goals scored/created in 43 starts. Despite such outstanding figures, he was still inexplicably dumped on the bench regularly.

People talk about Liverpool’s spine of Reina, Carra, Masch, Gerrard and Torres being so great - well, in my view, Benayoun should be part of that spine and should start as many games as possible.

It was clear from the Spurs game that Liverpool lost the battle in midfield; apart from being unable to retain possession, the famed Gerrard/Torres was nullified because the supply through to Gerrard was cut-off. As a result, Liverpool were tamed.

Until Albert Aquilani is available, Gerrard should be moved back into midfield and Benayoun should play behind Torres; this will bring more balance to the midfield and will make the best use of Benayoun’s talents.

Israeli international Yossi Benayoun says that Liverpool can win this season's Premier League title.

In agreement with quotes attributed to his team-mate Fernando Torres earlier this week, the former West Ham midfielder feels the club are desperate to make up for the disappointment of missing out to bitter rivals Manchester United in the previous campaign.

"I have a lot of confidence in this team," Benayoun told official club website. "We have a belief in the squad that we can win the league.

“But we have to work hard and keep improving. Personally I want this to be an even better season for me. I want to take my chances and help the team."

Liverpool have not won the title since the days of Barnes, Rush and Beardsley back in 1990.

Yossi Benayoun has signed a new Liverpool contract and insisted "playing for this club is a dream come true".

The Anfield club have rewarded the Israel skipper following his best season in English football with a new two-year extension to his current deal which has two seasons to run.

The 29-year-old told www.liverpoolfc.tv: "I am very happy that we have reached an agreement. Of course, to be at a club like this is a dream come true and I want to keep playing here."

He added: "Hopefully now I can concentrate on the hard work that needs to be done and try to play better and better and win some silverware."

Benayoun, who moved to Anfield from West Ham in July 2007, scored nine goals in 42 appearances during the 2008-09 campaign.

The high spot for Benayoun came in February at the Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, when he scored the late winner against Real in the Champions League last 16.

A dramatic stoppage-time winner at Fulham followed in April before he struck twice in the pulsating 4-4 draw with Arsenal at Anfield.

He follows Steven Gerrard, Fernando Torres, Daniel Agger and Dirk Kuyt in committing his long-term future to the club.