Rafa sees eager Benayoun as ideal replacement for Garcia
The Israel midfielder is set to secure a deal at Anfield after a fee, believed to be £5 million, was agreed with West Ham.
He could be joined by £10m-rated Ryan Babel in a double swoop after Ajax gave Liverpool permission to talk to the player. The Holland under-21 winger is reportedly on his way to Merseyside for a medical.
Benayoun comes with the right credentials, according to Benitez, who sees similarities with Garcia, now at Atletico Madrid.
“Maybe Luis is a player who scores more goals and Benayoun tends to make more assists,” Benitez said.
“Like Luis, he is a very technical, clever player with a lot of game intelligence. He can also play in many positions, giving us a different option for the team.
“He was offered a big new contract at West Ham and received offers from a lot of other clubs offering him more money. But Yossi’s message was always the same. He said he was desperate to only join Liverpool because this was his dream.
“When you have quality players with his ability showing so much passion to play for your club, it’s really good for the team.”
Liverpool have already stated their ambition this summer by signing former Atletico Madrid and Bayer Leverkusen strikers Fernando Torres and Andriy Voronin.
The club’s co-owners, Tom Hicks and George Gillett, are delighted at the way the squad is being improved.
Hicks, owner of Major League Baseball franchise Texas Rangers and National Hockey League side Dallas Stars, said: “Rafa has done a great job. We talked to him about a plan and it has gone pretty much how we agreed it would go.
“The first was to get existing core players on our team to sign extensions... Then we started with the process of getting new players in. I wouldn’t rule Rafa out for one more transfer. I know the team is going to be a better team.”
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