Solomon revealed that Benayoun advised him to sign with West Ham: "I wanted to hear his opinion"

Manor Solomon is eagerly awaiting the start of the new season in the Championship. Tomorrow (Sunday, 19:00), he and the Hammers will be hosted by Burnley in the first round of the second division in England. In an extensive interview with the 'Daily Mail', the Israel national team star spoke about his special connection with club legend Yossi Benayoun, revealed that he was not at all aware of the intensity of the rivalry between his new team and Tottenham, and addressed his goal: to lead West Ham back to the Premier League.

Solomon spoke at length about his admiration for Benayoun, who starred in two spells at West Ham. During the interview, he scrolled through thousands of photos on his phone until he found two, taken 11 years apart. In the first, Solomon is seen as a six-year-old boy alongside Benayoun, who visited a football camp in Israel. In the second photo, the two were already wearing the Israel national team kit and were teammates.

"My father just caught him outside the room and asked for a picture with me," Solomon said about the first meeting with Benayoun. Years later, when he was 17, he was already training alongside him in the national team. "We trained together, we shared the dressing room. It was amazing to share the dressing room with him. He is a hero. He is the hero of Israeli football," said Solomon, who listed Benayoun and Eyal Berkovic as the two greatest players in the history of Israeli football from his perspective.

"He was my idol," Solomon said of Benayoun. "First of all, he is Israeli. He managed to reach England, played in the Premier League, played for Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea, West Ham - in the biggest clubs in England. When I was little, I looked at him and said to myself: if Yossi managed to do it, maybe one day I can get close to him too. He was a winger, a number 10, similar to me. Different, but similar. I always looked at him and said – if Yossi did it, maybe in the future I can do it too."

Solomon revealed in the interview that before the move to West Ham, he even called Benayoun to consult with him. "I had a few options," he said. "I asked him what he thought was the best option, because I wanted to hear his opinion. Obviously, he played for West Ham. He told me that he sees me in English football, that I am very suitable for English football and that West Ham could be a really good place for me."

However, this move also comes with an interesting historical statistic: Solomon is the first player since Calum Davenport in 2007 to move directly from Tottenham to West Ham. Solomon admitted that he did not know about this until he arrived in London and how significant the rivalry between the clubs is. "I didn't know," he admitted with a smile. "I know that everyone in London hates everyone, especially the big clubs – Tottenham, Arsenal, Chelsea, West Ham. But I didn't know how big it was."

But beyond the stories about the rivalries, Solomon has a clear goal. After a complex period at Tottenham, which also included injuries, he wants to record an achievement he has already done in the past - to promote a team to the Premier League, after doing so in 2024/25 with Leeds.

"There is a big difference between the Championship and the Premier League," he said. "West Ham is a big club that can return to the Premier League and then stay there for a very long time. Everyone knows that West Ham belongs in the top half of the Premier League table. Three years ago it won a European title. I am sure that if the club goes in the right direction, it will return to the top league and fight again for a place in Europe."