A month before the first official match of the season, Maccabi Tel Aviv held this evening (Tuesday) the opening training session for the 2021/22 season at the PenguinPickUp complex at Kiryat Shalom.

Head Coach Patrick van Leeuwen guided the squad with new signing Idan Nachmias received a warm welcome as he held his first training session in Yellow and Blue. The international players who featured for their respective national teams, Ofir Davidzada, Matan Baltaxa and Eduardo Guerrero are set to join the rest of the squad later during the pre-season.

Maccabi Tel Aviv FC is happy to announce the signing of the striker Osama Khaliala, who signed a 3-year-deal with an option to extend by a further season.

Osama Khalaila, 23,  successfully completed his medical at the club before joining the rest of the team which began pre-season today ahead of the 2021/22 season.

Maccabi’s CEO, Sharon Tammam, told the club’s official website: “Maccabi Tel Aviv is happy to add Osama Khalaila. Everyone at Maccabi is certain Osama will help us achieve our targets and at the same time continue his personal development. We welcome Osama with open arms and wish him good luck!”.

Maccabi’s Head Coach, Patrick van Leeuwen added: “We are delighted that such a talented player like Osama, who made such impressive progress in recent years at his previous club is joining Maccabi Tel Aviv. As a club we must develop such talents as well as keep our eyes open for players in Israel who could complement our team”.

After signing his contract, Khalaila, told the club’s official website: “Maccabi Tel Aviv is a club every player wishes to play for and as far as I am concerned this is a very important landmark in my career. I am delighted I was given the opportunity to join a leading club in Israeli football and now I will work hard in order to justify the faith that was shown in me. I can’t wait to put on the Yellow shirt and meet my new teammates, but at the same time will do everything I can to make the Maccabi fans happy”.

Khalaila, played for Bnei Sachnin’s U-19’s team, made his senior debut in May 2017 against Beitar Jerusalem. Since then he scored 25 goals in 107 appearances for Sachnin in all competitions. Khalaila scored 2 goals in 11 appearances for Israel’s Youth team before adding 8 more appearances for Israel’s U-21’s. Earlier this month (June 2021), Khalaila made his full international debut for Israel in a friendly against Portugal.

As we prepare for the new season I would like to take a moment to reflect on the 2020/2021 season.

I am proud of our 24th Cup success. This was a victory of character and heart. Unselfish team effort, fearless spirit to fight until the end. Along with respect, these are qualities we value. These are the qualities of a winning club.

While this season provided its share of great and memorable moments, like the Cup, I cannot deny my disappointment with the final outcome in the league. Although we did our best to keep our championship hopes alive until the very end, unfortunately, we were not able to achieve the ultimate goal. Gaps were revealed that need to be addressed. I am determined that we do all we can to improve in these areas. To do this we will need to work even harder, especially now as preparations for next season are already underway. We are committed to putting in the time and effort to build on our foundation, starting from the Youth Academy all the way up to our First Team.

As we move forward and focus on the future, I would like to formally announce some key appointments in our Club.

Sharon Tammam has been our acting CEO for the last one and half years. She has done a great job to navigate the Club through this period and therefore I am pleased to confirm her role as CEO of Maccabi Tel Aviv FC.

Barak Itzhaki has seamlessly transferred from being a top professional football player to a key member of our Football Department. Barak will head our Football Department and lead our recruiting and scouting operations, be involved in transfer decisions as well as be responsible for the coordination of the Clubs football philosophy from the Youth Department to the First team.

Finally I am confirming Patrick van Leeuwen as Maccabi Tel Aviv FC first team coach for a period of 2 seasons. Patrick is no stranger to Maccabi having joined in 2016 to restructure and lead our Youth Academy. He took over as interim coach in December 2020 and has proven his commitment and loyalty to Maccabi, in addition to his leadership. Patrick is very much attuned to the Club’s objectives of nurturing young players who have come through our Youth Department and providing them a clear road map to become first team players.

I’m sure everyone associated with the Club will get behind Sharon, Barak and Patrick and I am sure you will all join me in wishing them much success.

Yalla Maccabi!

 

 

Maccabi Tel Aviv FC is happy to announce the signing of Idan Nachmias who successfully completed his medical before signing a four-year-deal until the end of the 2024/25 season.

 

Acting CEO, Sharon Tammam, told the club’s official website: “I am welcoming the addition of Idan to Maccabi. Our football department has been following Idan’s progress at Kiryat Shmona in recent years and we believe that his attributes will strengthen the team ahead of the tasks we face in the forthcoming season. We all welcome Idan and wish him success!”.

Idan Nachmias said after signing: “I am delighted to join such a leading massive club in Israeli football. I am fully aware what is expected of me and will do everything to help the team achieve all it’s targets both domestically and in Europe. I am waiting to meet my new teammates and begin preparations ahead of the forthcoming season. Just as exciting will be meeting the Maccabi fans at Bloomfield stadium”.

The central defender who made his first footballing footsteps at Kiryat Shmona’s Youth Department has been playing with in the first team for the past four years and scored 6 goals in 140 appearances in all competitions. Nachmias made his senior international debut for Israel against Slovakia in October 2020 and scored 1 goal in 10 appearances for the U21’s as well as 16 international appearances for the young national teams.

Maccabi Tel Aviv started the preparations for the 2021/22 season. Over the past few days the players arrived at Shamir Medical center at Assaf Harofeh and underwent a series of medical tests ahead of the beginning of pre-season.

The team’s preparations will be stepped up on Tuesday when pre-season begins officially with the first training session of the season. The team is set to travel for a 10-day pre-season training camp between July 4th and 14th. Maccabi first official match of the season will see them line-up for the first leg of the Conference League 2nd qualifying round with the return leg a week later on July 29th.

Itay Shechter has ended three successful seasons at Maccabi Tel Aviv during which he won 7 trophies: 2 League Championships (18/19, 19/20), State Cup (20/21), 2 Toto Cups (18/19, 20/21) and 2 Super Cups (19/20, 20/21).

Acting CEO, Sharon Tammam said: “We all thank Itay for his contribution during the three successful years he played at Maccabi. The added value  Itay brought with him, wasn’t only evident in the seven trophies Maccabi won during that period, but also thank to the special character that influenced everyone in the training complex. We wish Itay all the best in the future”.

The 34-year-old striker who joined Maccabi in the summer of 2018 made his debut in the Yellow and Blue strip during a Toto Cup match against Beitar Jerusalem – scored 20 goals in 120 appearances in all competitions.

Shechter made 15 appearances for Maccabi in European competitions, played in the Europa League group phase (20/21) and helped the team reach the Round of 32.

The club thanks Itay for his contribution both on and off the pitch during 3 successful seasons and wishes him all the best in the future.