Ben Sahar

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Ben Sahar
0Full Name	Ben Sahar
0Date of Birth	10 August 1989
0Place of Birth	Holon, Israel
0Position	Striker
0Chelsea career	2006 - 2009
0Debut	6 January 2007
0Games (goals)	5 (0))
0Other clubs	Hapoel Tel-Aviv QPR (loan) Sheff Wed (loan) Portsmouth (loan) De Graafschap (loan) Espanyol Hapoel Tel Aviv (loan) Auxerre (loan)

Ben Sahar (born 10 August 1989 in Holon, Israel) is a striker who formerly played for Chelsea.

Contents 1 Before Chelsea 2 Chelsea career 3 After Chelsea 4 International 5 Chelsea statistics 6 Career honours

Before Chelsea

Ben joined Chelsea's academy in June 2006 after a trial earlier in the year, leaving Hapoel Tel-Aviv in his native Israel. The club were compensated with £320,000 and struck a working relationship with Chelsea for the future. He was able to move to England without a work permit after acquiring Polish citizenship through his mother.

Chelsea career

It quickly became apparent that he was too good for Under-18 football, scoring often and playing consistently well. The step up to Reserve level saw more of the same, and an International Under-21 call-up followed. Despite being the youngest member of the squad, he announced himself across Europe by scoring the goal that knocked France out of the Under-21 Championships and sent Israel to their first ever finals in 2007.

Ben's season was to get even better though, making his full Chelsea debut in an FA Cup tie with Macclesfield before making a Premiership debut against Wigan the following week. He followed it up with sub appearances against Man Utd and Everton, but not before making an impact at a fifth level inside a season, scoring twice against Estonia for Israel’s full national team.

After such a whirlwind first season, it’s not such a surprise that his 2007-08 was more problematic. A six month loan spell at QPR started well, with two goals against Fulham in pre-season whetting the appetite. But the loss of a team-mate in Ray Jones (who was killed in a car crash aged 18) and an appendix injury curtailed his development. Upon the sacking of John Gregory, Ben’s chances of playing diminished and he was recalled. A spell in the Reserves followed before a second loan spell to Sheffield Wednesday went through, where he found his goalscoring boots in the fight against relegation.

2008-09 started terribly, with a false start in a third loan move, to Premier League side Portsmouth. Ben was signed by Harry Redknapp with the intention of playing him but went on to sign both Jermain Defoe and Peter Crouch, consigning him to the reserve team at Fratton Park. Cutting their losses, Chelsea recalled him at the turn of the year and tried their luck in another league. Sahar joined De Graafschap in Holland, and scored five goals in their fight against relegation from the Eredivisie.

In July 2009, Ben was sold to Espanyol for £1,000,000.

After Chelsea

Having scored just one league goal Espanyol in the 2009-10 season, Sahar returned to his native Israel and Hapoel Tel Aviv, where he found goalscoring form. He was later loaned to French side Auxerre for the 2011-12 season.

International

Ben has represented Israel at every level from Under-16 to senior national team. He made his full debut on 7 October 2006 and as of July 2011 had 23 caps, scoring five goals.

Chelsea statistics

Youth Team Football

Season	Club	Total
		Apps	Goals
2006-07	Chelsea	9	4

Senior Club Football (while at Chelsea)

Season	Club	League		FA Cup		League Cup		Europe		Other		Total
		Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
2006-07	Chelsea	3	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	5	0
2007-08	QPR (loan)	9	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	9	0
2007-08	Sheff Wed (loan)	12	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	12	3
2008-09	Portsmouth (loan)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2008-09	De Graafschap (loan)	16	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	16	5
	Total	40	8	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	42	8

Career honours

None.