Chelsea have clinched the transfer of Israeli midfielder Yossi Benayoun from Liverpool on a four-year contract for £7 million. The midfielder has been hankering for a move since the Premier League season ended and snatched at the chance to join the Double winners from a crisis-torn club.

Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti have thus chosen to move for the creative midfielder as a replacement for Joe Cole who was released by the Stamford Bridge club this month.

Benayoun has had his heart set on leaving Anfield ever since he failed to break into the first team under former boss Rafael Benitez. Despite the Spaniard leaving the club earlier this month, the Israeli decided that joining the Premier League champions was too good a chance to be missed and has decided to opt for more time on the substitutes bench, despite the latter being an oft-used reason for his unhappiness at Liverpool.

Even though Cole and Michael Ballack have both left Chelsea, it is unlikely that Ancelotti will elevate Benayoun to the first team as the Israeli has also failed to convince during the few opportunities given him by Benitez that he can last a whole game using his talent to full effect. The midfielder has undoubted talented, but often runs out of gas in the latter stages of a game.

Yet, Benayoun’s departure will ring the alarm bells at Anfield as fans start to wonder if more Liverpool stars will follow him out of Merseyside. Already, there is talk of captain Steven Gerrard and Spanish striking sensation Fernando Torres both leaving the club once the 2010 World Cup finals end in South Africa.

Benayoun will receive about £80,000-a-week for his four-year deal with Chelsea and will hope to replicate his Anfield success in London, except on a much broader scale.

Tags: Chelsea, English Premier League, Liverpool, transfer news, Yossi Benayoun