Former Liverpool and West Ham United midfielder Yossi Benayoun has said that he is determined to impress manager Roberto di Matteo ahead of the start of the new season. The 31-year-old midfielder spent the last season on loan at Arsenal where he made 25 appearances and scored six goals.
Thus, he was instrumental in helping Arsenal reach the third position and qualify for the Champions League automatically this season. He has now returned to his parent club Chelsea. Yossi Benayoun was a £ 5 million signing from Liverpool a few seasons ago, but he has not been having the favour of the Chelsea managers Carlo Ancelotti and Andre Villas-Boas in the past.
However, the 31-year-old has said that he is hoping to impress Roberto di Matteo in such a way in the pre-season so that the Italian will not send him out on a loan deal. Yossi Benayoun has been one of the players linked with a move away from the club permanently. Chelsea are in the process of reducing the age of the squad by selling a number of key, old, and high-profile players. Didier Drogba has already left the club, while the likes of Florent Malouda and Michael Essien are expected to follow.
“Now I am back at Chelsea for pre-season, the hard part of football, and I’m trying to do my best in front of Robbie, so we will just have to see what happens in the future. A lot has happened since I was last here. Unfortunately it didn’t work out with Andre Villas-Boas, results weren’t good enough but Robbie took the team, and we won the FA Cup and Champions League. I kept in touch and it was just great to see the club winning these trophies,” said Yossi Benayoun during the pre-season training.
