West Ham fans love to have a fans favourite and that is what they got with creative midfielder Eyal Berkovic in his two year stay at Upton Park.
The Israeli international joined from Maccabi Haifa in 1997 for £1.75million after a successful loan spell at Southampton and scored the winner on his debut against rivals Tottenham Hotspur. However after a training ground incident with striker John Hartson; where the Welshman kicked Berkovic in the face; he looked set to leave.
Berkovic went on to have fairly unsuccessful spells at Celtic, Manchester City, Blackburn Rovers and Portsmouth where he only managed a combined 21 goals in seven years. In 2005, he returned to Maccabi Haifa where he picked up injuries which meant he retired just one year later.
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Since leaving England, Berkovic seemed to disappeared from our thoughts however when Yossi Benayoun joined West Ham in 2007, he said his choice was down to advice given to him by fellow Israeli Berkovic.
Berkovic had a two month spell in charge of club side Maccabi Netanya but left due to personal reasons without taking charge of a competitive game despite signing a staggering 15 players.
Berkovic has not ruled out another managerial job and in particular in England where he spent his happiest football years.
The former Hammer is still living in Israel with his family and that is what happened to Eyal Berkovic.
will brian montenegro turn out to be one of our best signings? watch this space. coyi!
Cracking little player, much better than Benayoun in my opinion. His eye for a pass was fantastic.