Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Fast Forward

Israel Soccer Captain Switches to Arsenal

Israeli soccer captain Yossi Benayoun moved to English powerhouse Arsenal just before the end of the transfer window, the team said on its web site.

The 31-year-old midfielder came to the north London side on loan from crosstown rivals Chelsea, where he had languished on the bench.

Benayoun, who is training for an Israeli national team match, confirmed the move on his Twitter page.

“Very happy and excited about it, but now my head is only in the game against grecce on friday, thanks for the support,” he wrote.

Benayoun, who once played for Maccabi Tel Aviv, made his name in the English Premier League for Liverpool where he scored 19 goals in 91 games.

Arsenal are hurting for playmakers after losing superstars Cesc Fabregas and Sami Nasri as the season kicks off.

The Gunners already signed defenders Per Mertesacker and Andre Santos, along with midfielder Mikel Arteta.

A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism so that we can be prepared for whatever news 2025 brings.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:

  • Credit the Forward
  • Retain our pixel
  • Preserve our canonical link in Google search
  • Add a noindex tag in Google search

See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.