Yossi Benayoun believes he is settling well into life as a Chelsea player, and hopes to quickly prove his worth on the pitch.
The Israeli international is in Germany with the rest of the squad at present, and has already sung his initiation song, a rapidly-heckled version of Liverpool anthem You'll Never Walk Alone before switching into Hebrew.
Speaking after training on Tuesday, Benayoun outlined his desire to show his abilities in our final friendly against Hamburg on Wednesday evening.
'I feel very good. From the first moment they gave me a good feeling like I am already a long time here,' he said, speaking of his new team-mates. 'I am enjoying every day and getting closer to everyone. I am sure I will have a great time here and hopefully we will be successful.'
The 30-year-old made his Chelsea bow against Eintracht Frankfurt on Sunday, with a promising 45-minute display. He hopes to be fully operational shortly.
'I trained with the team for the first few days but had an injury with my groin, so I was resting for a week and came back only a few days ago to train. I am sure soon I will be fit enough.'
Benayoun arrives to take the number 10 jersey, made available following Joe Cole's departure and subsequent arrival at our new man's former club, Liverpool. Despite their similar playing styles, Benayoun is hopeful that obvious comparisons are not drawn.
'I don't think about it. My favourite number is 15, but it is not available!' he smiled. 'I don't like to compare myself to another player, I come here to do my best and hopefully it will be good enough. Joe is in Liverpool, I wish him the best, I think he is a great player.'
Another Cole, Ashley, is currently being linked with a move away from Chelsea, but with Carlo Ancelotti having insisted the left-back is staying, Benayoun is confident the England man will remain a team-mate.
'It is always like this in clubs, you always want your best players to stay,' he explained. 'The squad is very strong and it is normal there are offers from other teams, but we really hope Ashley will stay because he is a great player.'
Ancelotti also admitted a possibility that Brazilian midfielder Ramires could be heading to Stamford Bridge, though a deal with his club Benfica remains some way off.
'I don't know, I will speak about Ramires when Ramires will be a Chelsea player,' the manager said after Tuesday's training session. 'Until now he is not a Chelsea player, we hope, but until now nothing is decided.'
The Italian is growing closer to having his line-up for tomorrow's game against Hamburg, and Sunday's Community Shield date with Manchester United, sorted in his mind.
'It is my thought to reward the players that start the game against Manchester United and give them more minutes. It is an important game, the last one of pre-season and we want to check our position physically and tactically before the start of the season.
'I think we need to have more time to be fit because we need above all for the players that came back on 26 July it is more difficult to be fit immediately, you have to take your time - a few weeks will be enough to come back to the best condition.'
The Israeli international is in Germany with the rest of the squad at present, and has already sung his initiation song, a rapidly-heckled version of Liverpool anthem You'll Never Walk Alone before switching into Hebrew.
Speaking after training on Tuesday, Benayoun outlined his desire to show his abilities in our final friendly against Hamburg on Wednesday evening.
'I feel very good. From the first moment they gave me a good feeling like I am already a long time here,' he said, speaking of his new team-mates. 'I am enjoying every day and getting closer to everyone. I am sure I will have a great time here and hopefully we will be successful.'
The 30-year-old made his Chelsea bow against Eintracht Frankfurt on Sunday, with a promising 45-minute display. He hopes to be fully operational shortly.
'I trained with the team for the first few days but had an injury with my groin, so I was resting for a week and came back only a few days ago to train. I am sure soon I will be fit enough.'
Benayoun arrives to take the number 10 jersey, made available following Joe Cole's departure and subsequent arrival at our new man's former club, Liverpool. Despite their similar playing styles, Benayoun is hopeful that obvious comparisons are not drawn.
'I don't think about it. My favourite number is 15, but it is not available!' he smiled. 'I don't like to compare myself to another player, I come here to do my best and hopefully it will be good enough. Joe is in Liverpool, I wish him the best, I think he is a great player.'
Another Cole, Ashley, is currently being linked with a move away from Chelsea, but with Carlo Ancelotti having insisted the left-back is staying, Benayoun is confident the England man will remain a team-mate.
'It is always like this in clubs, you always want your best players to stay,' he explained. 'The squad is very strong and it is normal there are offers from other teams, but we really hope Ashley will stay because he is a great player.'
Ancelotti also admitted a possibility that Brazilian midfielder Ramires could be heading to Stamford Bridge, though a deal with his club Benfica remains some way off.
'I don't know, I will speak about Ramires when Ramires will be a Chelsea player,' the manager said after Tuesday's training session. 'Until now he is not a Chelsea player, we hope, but until now nothing is decided.'
The Italian is growing closer to having his line-up for tomorrow's game against Hamburg, and Sunday's Community Shield date with Manchester United, sorted in his mind.
'It is my thought to reward the players that start the game against Manchester United and give them more minutes. It is an important game, the last one of pre-season and we want to check our position physically and tactically before the start of the season.
'I think we need to have more time to be fit because we need above all for the players that came back on 26 July it is more difficult to be fit immediately, you have to take your time - a few weeks will be enough to come back to the best condition.'
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