Yossi Benayoun seems certain to be rewarded for his best season in English football with a Liverpool contract extension.

The majority of Liverpool's stars returned for pre-season training today, as the club announced new deals for two of their most promising homegrown youngsters.

But the belief that negotiations over 29-year-old Benayoun's future have been concluded successfully will be welcomed by fans after the Israel skipper scored nine goals in 42 games last season.

His most memorable strike was the winner at the Bernabeu in the Champions League against Real Madrid, and from that moment in February he appeared in all but three of Liverpool's final 16 games of the season.

That was his most consistent spell since joining from West Ham in 2007, and he steadily produced his best form, scoring seven goals in the run-in.

He has two years left on his current deal, and has been given an extra 12 months plus a wage rise to end speculation that he could be moving from Anfield.

Liverpool have also confirmed Jay Spearing and Stephen Darby have agreed new terms.

Spearing, who captained the FA Youth Cup winning side of 2007, has made a big impression as a competitive midfielder and made his senior debut last season as a substitute in the Champions League home mauling of Real Madrid.

The memory of the Kop rising to sing the youngster's name as he trotted onto the pitch alongside some of the greats of European football is one of the more endearing moments of last season, and underlined their desire to see local youngsters given a chance by boss Rafael Benitez.

Darby, a former reserve team skipper, made three first-team appearances last season.

Benayoun now joins Steven Gerrard, Fernando Torres and Dirk Kuyt from the first-team squad who have been given new deals by Benitez in recent months.

And, so far, the Liverpool boss has only lost Sami Hyypia and Jermaine Pennant on free transfers from last season's squad.

He has also raised £4.2million from the sales of Paul Anderson, Jack Hobbs and Sebastian Leto so far this summer.

But the crunch will come when Liverpool receive bids for Xabi Alonso and Javier Mascherano from Real Madrid and Barcelona respectively.

That has yet to happen despite constant speculation about the pair's future. And in such a climate it clearly makes sense for Benitez to keep Benayoun.

Benitez has publicly stated he does not want to sell Alonso or Mascherano, but he has been linked with possible replacements in Udinese's Gokhan Inler and Inter Milan's Esteban Cambiasso.

The saga over Alonso's future could drag on for a few weeks yet, with the Spanish international not due back for training until the day before Liverpool fly to the Far East - on July 20 - for matches against Thailand (July 22) and Singapore (July 26).

The Spanish contingent have been given an extra fortnight's rest following the Confederations Cup.

England pair Gerrard, and new signing Glen Johnson, both return to training on Wednesday following their summer internationals.

Liverpool's first pre-season friendlies are while they are away at their Swiss training camp. The play St Gallen on July 15 and Rapid Vienna on July 19 before travelling to Bangkok.

On their return they will open Espanyol's new stadium in Barcelona on August 2, before a trip to play Lyn Oslo three days later. Their final warm-up game is at home to Torres' former club, Atletico Madrid, on August 8.

Another of Liverpool's 'new' signings - former boss and playing legend Kenny Dalglish - also had his first day in his new job with the club's academy today.