Benayoun fee fixed by Reds
Tuesday, 10 Jul 2007 22:44
Benayoun has made 72 appearances for the Hammers
Liverpool are reported to have had a £4 million offer accepted by
West Ham United for Israeli playmaker Yossi Benayoun.
The midfielder was on the brink of signing a new five-year deal at Upton Park earlier this summer, but delays in drawing up the contract have allowed Rafael Benitez to hijack the discussions.
Fernando Torres and Andriy Voronin have already been recruited to fill the forward berths vacated by Craig Bellamy and Djibril Cisse, while a move for Ajax attacker Ryan Babel is also in the offing.
The two clubs have been in tough negotiations for over a week haggling over the £7.5 million price the Hammers will pay for Bellamy.
Although Benayoun's deal was treated separately, it seems a second agreement has been reached for the 25-year-old to travel in the opposite direction.
Benitez admitted after his team's 3-2 friendly victory over Wrexham that he was interested in finally landing a player he first tracked when he was plying his trade with Racing Santander in Spain.
"It's clear he'd like to come and he's a player I like," the Spaniard said.
For his part Benayoun has confessed that he was "honoured" to be linked to the Anfield club.