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 the club's official website: "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.
"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.
Boss Rafael Benitez said: "You know that our idea was to extend the
contracts of some players and Yossi was one of these players.
"He has been really good for us over the last year, scoring crucial
goals and getting assists, so we wanted to keep him and I'm really
pleased with the extension.''
The majority of Liverpool's stars returned for pre-season training
today, as the club also announced new contracts for two of their
most promising home-grown youngsters.
Midfielder Jay Spearing and full-back Stephen Darby - both 20 - are
expected to put pen to paper on the new deals later this
week.
Spearing, who captained the FA Youth Cup-winning side of 2007, has
made a big impression as a competitive midfielder and made his
senior debut last season as a substitute in the Champions League
mauling of Real Madrid.
The memory of the Kop rising to sing the youngster's name as he
trotted onto the pitch alongside some of the greats of European
football is one of the more endearing moments of last season, and
underlined their desire to see local youngsters given a chance by
Benitez.
Darby, a former reserve-team skipper, made three first-team
appearances last season.
The Liverpool boss has lost Sami Hyypia and Jermaine Pennant on
free transfers from last season's squad and he has raised
£4.2million from the sales of Paul Anderson, Jack Hobbs and
Sebastian Leto so far this summer.
But the crunch will come when Liverpool receive bids for Xabi
Alonso and Javier Mascherano from Real Madrid and Barcelona
respectively.
That has yet to happen despite constant speculation about the
pair's future. And in such a climate it clearly makes sense for
Benitez to keep Benayoun.
Benitez has publicly stated he does not want to sell Alonso or
Mascherano, but he has been linked with possible replacements in
Udinese's Gokhan Inler and Inter Milan's Esteban Cambiasso.
The saga over Alonso's future could drag on for a few weeks yet,
with the Spain international not due back for training until the
day before Liverpool fly out for their tour of the Far East on July
20.
The Spanish contingent have been given an extra fortnight's rest
following the Confederations Cup.
England pair Gerrard, and new signing Glen Johnson, both return to
training on Wednesday following their summer internationals.
Liverpool's first pre-season friendlies will take place while they
are away at their Swiss training camp. They play Swiss side St
Gallen and Austrian outfit Rapid Vienna before travelling to
Bangkok.
On their return they will open Espanyol's new stadium in Barcelona
on August 2, before a trip to play Lyn Oslo three days later. Their
final warm-up game is at home to Torres' former club, Atletico
Madrid, on August 8.
Another of Liverpool's "new'' signings - former boss and playing
legend Kenny Dalglish - also had his first day in his new job with
the club's academy.