This is an accepted version of this page Yossi Shai Benayoun (Hebrew: יוסי שי בניון; born 5 May 1980) is an Israeli former professional footballer who played as a midfielder.

[5] Benayoun played for Hapoel Be'er Sheva and Maccabi Haifa before moving to Racing de Santander in Spain.

In 2010, he signed for Chelsea, where he was used rarely, being loaned to Arsenal and back to West Ham, but nonetheless won the 2012–13 UEFA Europa League.

After that, he was released by the club and spent a season in the Football League Championship with Queens Park Rangers before returning to Maccabi Haifa.

At the age of 16, he was promoted to the Hapoel Be'er Sheva senior team for the 1997–98 Liga Leumit, but could not prevent the club from being relegated to Israel's second division.

Haifa's goalkeeper, Nir Davidovich, saved the shot but Benayoun scored the rebound to give his team the win.

Seconds after scoring, while celebrating the winning and what he thought to be a league survival goal, Benayoun found out about the relegation and burst into tears.

Benayoun also scored 16 goals in 29 matches for Haifa in the 1998–99 Liga Leumit, finishing the season as the equal eighth leading goalscorer for his team.

This sparked a great deal of interest in the player with Newcastle United, Tottenham Hotspur, Liverpool, Bolton Wanderers, Real Sociedad, and Deportivo La Coruña seen as likely suitors.

Benayoun scored a second hat-trick against a mismatched opponent in his first season against non-league side Havant & Waterlooville in the FA Cup, a team 122 places behind Liverpool on the league pyramid.

On 7 November 2007, in a UEFA Champions League home game against Beşiktaş in the Group Stage, Benayoun scored a hat trick in Liverpool's 8–0 win against the Istanbul team.

This led to the Israeli openly announcing his intention to stay, saying: "Liverpool is good for me and it was always clear I want to stay and Liverpool wants me,"[26] He was given his preferred number 15 shirt (which was occupied by Peter Crouch during the 2007–08 season but was vacated when he moved to Portsmouth) the reason he swtiched from 11 to 15 was because it was the number he wore for Hapoel Be'er Sheva, Maccabi Haifa, Racing de Santander, West Ham United and Israel.

On 25 February 2009, Benayoun scored a header from Fábio Aurélio's free-kick in the 82nd minute against Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabéu in the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 to give Liverpool a 1–0 win.

[30] Benayoun finished his second season at Anfield in spectacular fashion; scoring a goal in each of Liverpool's last three home matches.

[32] He was the first player to score Premiership, Champions League and FA Cup hat tricks, but has since been joined by Sergio Aguero and Harry Kane.

[34] Benayoun signed for Chelsea on 2 July 2010, agreeing on a three-year deal, and keeping him at Stamford Bridge until summer 2013.

Benayoun made his debut against Eintracht Frankfurt in a pre-season friendly[38] before making his first competitive appearance on 8 August in a 3–1 loss against Manchester United in the 2010 FA Community Shield, by coming on for left-winger Florent Malouda in the 72nd minute.

[41] During the 2011 Tour of Asia, in the friendly game against the Malaysia XI team, Benayoun suffered repeated booing from the Malaysian crowd each time he touched the ball.

"[42][43] On 31 August 2011, it was confirmed Benayoun had joined Arsenal on a one-year loan deal as he found chances at Chelsea limited.

He then started the match against Manchester City on 8 April 2012, and nearly had a chance to score in the second half, but only to see his stabbing shot take a deflection, which then came off the post.

He was substituted in the second half for Aaron Ramsey, and just like in the match against Tottenham, the Arsenal fans gave him a standing ovation when leaving the pitch.

On 11 April 2012 he scored his second league goal of the season in the 3–0 away win against Wolves, a result which strengthened Arsenal's place in third as they opened up a gap of five points over arch-rival Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle United with five games remaining.

On 31 August 2012, Benayoun returned to West Ham United on loan for the 2012–13 season, becoming their eleventh signing of the transfer window.

[55] On 6 June 2014, it was officially announced that Benayoun would return to Maccabi Haifa on a two-year deal worth US$1 million.

In his two seasons, Maccabi Haifa did not do well in the Israeli Premier League, with Benayoun scoring five and six goals respectively, but did win the Israel State Cup after 18 years.

Benayoun played one season in Maccabi Tel Aviv, scoring only one league goal and failing to win any title.

Benayoun scored his first international hat-trick in a UEFA Euro 2000 qualifier against San Marino at Ramat Gan Stadium on 8 September 1999.