News and Rumors

• Villareal is interested in Beitar Jerusalem keeper, Ariel Harush. Beitar wants 1.25 million Euros for him, Harush was Israel’s recent starter against Germany in a friendly and had a good game.
• Maccabi Haifa has bought right back Oded Elkayam from Hapoel Haifa for a fee of 350,000 Shekels, Elkayam played on loan at Bnei Sakhnin.
• Avi Yehiel is a candidate to replace Din Mori  at Bnei Yehuda, Mori is at the end of his contract and is looking at different offers from European teams.

News and Rumors

• Maccabi Tel Aviv has signed Spanish Defender Carlos Garcia on a free transfer from Spanish Second Division club Almeria.
• Eran Zahavi may be moving to Chievo, as his club Palermo are interested in American midfielder Michael Bradley and would send Zahavi in the opposite direction. Zahavi had a poor season with only two goals and three assists in twenty games.
• Romanian club Astra Ploiesti is interested in Maccabi Haifa’s Ghanaian midfielder Ya Ya Seidu.
• Maccabi Haifa is still in talks with Argentinian club Godoy Cruz over defensive midfielder Nicolas Olmedo.

News and Rumors

• Striker Dudu Biton has signed a four year contract with Belgian Giants Standard Liege. Biton scored 16 goals in all competitions last year, and will join two Israeli’s already at Standard; attacking midfielder Maor Buzaglo and defender Rami Gershon. Liege purchased Biton’s contract from Charleroi for 800,000 Euros.
• Maccabi Tel Aviv has finally signed Spanish attacking midfielder Gonzalo Garcia from AEK Larnaca.  Garcia scored 17 goals in all competitions last season for Larnaca. They are also close to signing Spanish defender Carlos Garcia from Almeria on a free transfer.
• Maccabi Tel Aviv have released Montenegrin defender Savo Pavićević, he will join Cypriot club AC Omonia.
• Midfielder Oz Raly has joined Cypriot club AC Omonia on a free transfer from Bnei Yehuda, while goalkeeper Ohad Levita has joined Omonia from Hapoel Be’er Sheva on a free transfer.
• Maccabi Tel Aviv is looking offload Haris Medunjanin, Medunjanin has very high wages and had disciplinary trouble last season, however if Maccabi can’t recieve their asking price, he may stay for the season.

News and Rumors

• Yossi Benayoun is being linked with a move back to his old club West Ham and his old youth club Ajax. Ajax will be playing in the Champions league next season, but West Ham may be a more attractive move for the Israeli due to the higher wages he may get in England.
• Apparently Chen Ezra will continue with Maccabi Netanya.  Ezra is an attacking midfielder that plays for Maccabi Netanya and scored 12 goals last season. He was wanted by Maccabi Haifa, but Netanya’s transfer fee was too high for Haifa.
• Hapoel Haifa have signed Serbian defender Dušan Brković from Smederevo FK. They are also trying to sign Assi Baldut from Rishon LeZion .  They are also trying to sign Victor Maree from Maccabi Petah Tikva.

News and Rumors

• Shimon Sheves has withdrawn from negotiations for the purchase of Hapoel Tel Aviv from Eli Tabib.
• Hapoel Haifa have signed Swiss defender Fabian Stoller from relegated club Hapoel Petah Tikva.
• Israel’s National Team is now ranked 81st in the world after another two losses to the Czech Republic and Germany, not exactly the improvement Chairman Avi Luzon was looking for.

News And Rumors

• Nir Davidovich and Maccabi Haifa are at odds after Haifa offered him a one year contract, and he wants a two year contract.  Davidovich has been with the club for his whole career, but has been plagued by injuries for most of that time.  During most of his career he was the number two keeper for Israel, behind his rival Dudu Aouate.
• Shimon Sheves, the former head of Yitzhak Rabin’s office when he was prime minister is on the verge of purchasing Hapoel Tel Aviv from Eli Tabib. Sheves represents a group of foreign businessmen, however Eli Tabib is demanding to keep any amount of money earned from the sale of Omer Damari and Nosa Igiebor.
• Hapoel Tel Aviv wants attacking midfielder David Revivo from MS Ashdod and right back Ali Ottman from Maccabi Haifa. Ottman has been deemed surplus requirements at Haifa.

News and Rumors

• Maccabi Haifa have signed left-back Shmuel Scheimann from  the Dutch club SBV Excelsior. Scheimann made his national team debut recently against the Czech Republic. Scheimann will sign a two year deal with an option for two more years. This may indicate that Taleb Tawatha will be leaving the club in the summer.
• Maccabi Tel Aviv are showing interest in Kaiserslautern midfielder Gil Vermouth. Vermouth had an outstanding game against Germany recently and is searching for a club in the Netherlands or Spain.
• Maccabi Haifa are interested in two Argentinian players, Nicolas Olmedo, a defensive midfielder for Godoy Cruz, and Martin Rolle, an attacking midfielder for Club Olimpo.

News and Rumors

• Hapoel Tel Aviv owner Eli Tabib has announced he wants to sell the club for 25 million shekels. He also announced that the team’s best players are all for sale. In addition the team will not be having a training camp, and he will no longer invest any money into the club. To some it looks like a similar story to when he gutted Hapoel Kfar Saba which was then relegated to the Liga Leumit. Others believe he is taking revenge against the clubs fans, who demanded that he will leave. Hapoel Beer Sheva want Omer Damari from Hapoel Tel Aviv, but the price is too high for them. While Maccabi Tel Aviv and Maccabi Haifa want Nosa Igiebor.
• Coaches from the youth department of Maccabi Petah Tikva toured the facilities of Ajax Amsterdam in an effort to improve their youth setup.
• Maccabi Haifa defender Jurica Buljat was called up to the final squad of Croatia for Euro 2012,  the Greens will be looking to sell the Croatian defender in the summer.  If he plays then it will probably make it easier for Haifa to do so.
• The Israel Football Association is considering terminating the contract of Eli Ohana on June 30th. Ohana is currently the coach of Israel’s u-19 Team, however his teams have performed poorly since his tenure in 2008 and the last loss was a particularly humiliating one. It was a 7-1 loss at the hands of Portugal. Ohana is a legendary player but has a spotty record as a manager.

News and Rumors

• Kiryat Shmona has made their first signing of the transfer window. They signed Macedonian International Darko Tasevski on a free transfer from Bulgarian side Levski Sofia. He is an attacking midfielder valued at 1.500.000 Euros on  the website Transfermarkt.
• AEK Larnaca midfielder Gonzalo Garcia continues to be linked with a move to Maccabi Tel Aviv

Ligat Ha’al Team Of The Year

After a long season, the Israeli League is finally over. Kiryat Shmona were the surprise Champions and they have a number of players in my team of the year. Although Kiryat Shmona didn’t finish it didn’t matter as all the other teams had such a poor start to the season, that all Kiryat Shmona had to was not lose all their games at the end of the season. Maccabi Netanya also had a number of players in the team as well.

Goalkeeper – Dani Amos(Kiryat Shmona)

Amos was behind the league’s best defense, that allowed only 26 goals in 37 matches. Amos has been called up to the National Team, and may get his first cap against the Czech Republic.

Left Back – Omri Ben Harush(Netanya)

Ben Harush was part of Maccabi Netanya’s excellent season, and has been linked with a move to Israeli powerhouse Maccabi Haifa. He was also capped twice against Greece and Croatia in the fall of 2011. He also scored the winning goal that brought Maccabi Netanya a European spot for next year.

Right Back – Elad Gabai(Kiryat Shmona)

Gabai got his first cap against the Ukraine, and had the best season of any right back in Israel and was part of the best defense in the Israeli league. Gabai is quick and is also a good crosser of the ball.

Center Back – Salah Hasarma(Kiryat Shmona)

One of the oldest players in Ligat Ha’al at age 38, Hasarma was part of the bedrock defense of Kiryat Shmona that let in only 26 goals.

Center Back – Shir Tzedek(Kiryat Shmona)

Tzedek is a youth product  of  Kiryat Shmona’s academy, and received his first National Team cap against the Ukraine along with his fellow defender Elad Gabai. Tzedek is young and has alot of potential.

Center Midfield – Kobi Moyal(Beitar Jerusalem)

Moyal helped Beitar stay up, and is possibly the best central midfielder in Ligat Ha’al. He has been linked with a move to Maccabi Haifa, depending on Beitar’s financial situation. Moyal is a tough tackler, and has good range of passing.

Center Midfield – Kobi Dajani(Netanya)

Dajani had a great year for Netanya as he helped the diamonds to a Europa League spot. Dajani earned a call up from Luis Fernandez but has yet to find the same favor with current manager Eli Guttman.

Attacking Midfield – Pedro Galvan(Bnei Yehuda)

Galvan has again been a high scorer for Bnei Yehuda ever since he’s been there and this season was no exception he scored 18 goals in all competitions.

Attacking Midfield – Chen Ezra(Netanya)

Ezra has scored 12 goals in all competitions for Maccabi Netanya, and has been the hottest summer transfer target of the summer. I think he will stay with Netanya in the summer due to the high asking price of his club.

Striker – Omer Damari(Hapoel Tel Aviv)

Damari was the second leading scorer in the Israeli League this year with 17 goals and has attracted interest from abroad. Certainly a young player for the future.

Striker – Ahmed Sabaa(Netanya)

Ahmed Sabaa had a great year, and has been something of late bloomer with his 20 goals all season. Sabaa is 31 years old and has proven that even an older player can still be successful. His form was key to Netanya’s great season.