English Premier League football champions Chelsea will be without Israeli national captain Yossi Benayoun for virtually the rest of the season after he underwent an operation to repair a torn Achilles tendon.
The 30-year-old faces six months rehabilitation treatment following the operation on the injury which he discovered when he went away for international duty for the recent Euro 2012 qualifiers against Croatia and Greece.
Benayoun, who signed from Liverpool for 5.5 million pounds in July this year, has not played for Chelsea since the club's League Cup defeat at home to Newcastle on September 22 because of a calf injury.
