[Archive 2007-07-12] European football: Benayoun, Babel move to Liverpool

Historical archive — originally published 2007-07-12. This report records what was known on that date. It is not current news; subsequent events may have changed the situation. Wikinews closed in May 2026.

Liverpool FC have completed the signings of West Ham midfielder Yossi Benayoun and Ajax forward Ryan Babel. The combined fee is approximately €24.5 million.

These transfers raise the total to €47 million that Liverpool has spent on transfer fees this off season. Other acquisitions include Fernando Torres and Andrei Voronin.

Ajax rejected the original offer of €14.7 million for Babel, who came out of Ajax' world famous youth system. Liverpool raised the offer to about €17 million, which Ajax accepted as the transfer fee.

Liverpool has been after Benayoun for a while. They acquired him from West Ham for a fee of about €7.5 million.

Benayoun signed a contract that runs until June 2011. Liverpool coach Rafael Benitez has been watching Benayoun since his days at Racing Santander in La Liga.

Babel will sign a 5-year contract on Friday after passing a medical. He admitted that he was easily convinced that Liverpool was the right club for him after listening to what they had to say.

Source and licence

Text adapted from European football: Benayoun, Babel move to Liverpool by Wikinews contributors under CC BY 2.5. Paragraphs have been selected and abridged, and formatting adjusted. Contributor history.