BOLTON Wanderers will have to deal with football's "super agent", Pini Zahavi, if they press ahead with their plan to sign the Israel international, Yossi Benayoun.
Sam Allardyce has been tracking the highly-rated midfielder for months after receiving favourable reports from his international team-mate, Tal Ben Haim, who made a stunning impact for the Whites last season.
But the goalposts moved when Zahavi and his fellow agent, Ronen Katsav, bought the rights to the 25-year-old last week.
Press reports in Israel claim the pair paid Spanish club Racing Santander 3.5 million euros, around £2.37m, to secure Benayoun's registration and are now looking for a quick return on their investment by striking a deal with a Premiership club.
Wanderers have been silent on their reported interest but with Newcastle, Sunderland and Spurs all having distanced themselves from the Israeli in recent days, there is increasing speculation that the Reebok could be his eventual destination.
But Allardyce and his chairman, Phil Gartside, must first strike a bargain with Zahavi, the high-profile agent, who represents Manchester United and England defender Rio Ferdinand and has a reputation as a hard-nosed negotiator.
Benayoun, who has already turned down a £2m move to FC Moscow, because he did not want to play in Russia, said at the start of the week that he expected to know "within a few days" where he would be playing next season.
Wherever that is, it certainly will not be at Santander. The Spanish First Division club's president, Manuel Huerte, confirmed he had accepted an offer from the Zahavi-Katsav partnership, despite it being less than the fee he agreed with Moscow.
"I am not particularly happy with the price," he said, "but in business you have to make compromises.
"We have no interest in keeping Benayoun at Santander, and with the money we have received we can bring in several players who want to play for the club.
"The deal is important for both sides. The player will be happy and we can get on with building a new team for next season."
Huerte said he was not interested where the player went.
"I don't care what happens with Benayoun," he added. "His agents are now responsible for him and, as far as I am concerned, he can spend the season sitting on the beach in Honolulu. The main thing is that they pay up for him."
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