Yossi Benayoun signs

[stevie_gerrard_8]

Lovely stuff.

Babel on board tomorrow, Copa America finishing on Sunday and, it appears, Heinze to follow next week.

It's all falling into place. The new season can't come quickly enough for me.

If there are no more signings, Rafa must be very confident that Harry can keep fit.

[Red_Polo]

Think Yossi will be a great signing for us but does anyone know why Racing let him go so cheap? Did they get relegated that year or did he have a release clause or anything?

The agent Pini Zahavi bought out his contract for him.

[Morph]

The agent Pini Zahavi bought out his contract for him.

isn't he the dodgy fella?

[REDSCOUSER]

Why do we have to apply for a work permit to finalise the Benayoun signing ?

[Morph]

Why do we have to apply for a work permit to finalise the Benayoun signing ?

Wouldn't have thought we'd have needed to, suppose if anything it's because he has a new employer

[REDSCOUSER]

Wouldn't have thought we'd have needed to, suppose if anything it's because he has a new employer

so we need one for Torres, Babel, Voronin & Leiva
i thought once you are working in the UK then there is no need to apply again unless the work permit expired..Benayoun been in the UK for what 3 years now.

[Red Chilli]

so we need one for Torres, Babel, Voronin & Leiva
i thought once you are working in the UK then there is no need to apply again unless the work permit expired..Benayoun been in the UK for what 3 years now.

Torres and Babel don't need permits as they are EU citizens.

Not sure about the CROW and Levia

As far as Yossi is concerned, I thought you needed a permit to cover the length of your contract and his current one probably doesn't cover the proposed contract offered by LFC, only his previous contract with Ice Ham

[Morph]

so we need one for Torres, Babel, Voronin & Leiva
i thought once you are working in the UK then there is no need to apply again unless the work permit expired..Benayoun been in the UK for what 3 years now.

well we'll need one for some of those 4 aye, like i said personally i wouldn't have thought we'd need one for him, but maybe you have to reapply if your circumstances change or something

[PLY]

Torres is spanish , Lucas has an Italian passport so he won't need a work permit and Voronin has been in Germany for years so maybe he has duel nationality

[kurtangle01]

You need a work permit if your origin is from outside the EU. As Torres and Babel are from the EU they don't need one. Benayoun will though.

[REDSCOUSER]

Thanks for info lads, forgot about Torres & Babel being EU.

[rushscored4]

Benayoun signs with Liverpool

Yossi Benayoun completed his move to Liverpool on Thursday evening after successfully passing a medical and signing a four-year contract.

The 27-year-old midfielder, who joins from West Ham for a reported fee of £5 million, put pen to paper on a deal that will keep him at Anfield until 2011.

The Israel captain was given the number 11 shirt and will make a weekly salary believed to be in the region of £45,000.

Also on Thursday, Liverpool signed Ajax forward Ryan Babel for $23m. "Liverpool has agreed terms with Ajax and Ryan Babel himself and the player will sign a five-year-deal on Friday," said Liverpool spokesman Ian Cotton on Thursday afternoon.

Babel, who has scored four goals in 14 appearances for the Netherlands, including one in his debut against Romania in 2005, was under contract at Ajax until July 2010. He was also a member of the Dutch team that won the under-21 European Championship last month.

Speaking to Ajax TV, Babel said he had "made a choice with my heart" after visiting Liverpool. Babel joined Ajax as a youth player and progressed through its training academy.

Liverpool co-owner Tom Hicks spoke on Thursday of how impressed he is with the transfer dealings of manager Rafa Benitez.

"Rafa has done a great job," Hicks told Sky Sports News. "We talked to him about a plan and it has gone pretty much how we agreed it would go. The first was to get existing core players on our team to sign extensions.

"Then we started with the process of getting new players in. I wouldn't rule Rafa out for one more [transfer]. I know we're going to be a better team."

Liverpool finished third in the Premier League last season and lost in the Champions League final to AC Milan. The reds play their first pre-season friendly against Crewe Alexandra on Saturday.

So Speedy must definitely have gone then as Yossi has been given his Number 11 shirt...