Maccabi Haifa interested, Netanya not releasing: Where will Kerem Jaber play?
Defender Kerem Jaber has been playing for Maccabi Netanya for seven seasons. Despite his relatively young age, 26, he has become one of the team's veterans and even serves as the captain of the Diamonds. In recent years, Jaber was a regular starter, but at the beginning of the current season, his status declined, leading to speculation about a potential transfer.
Defender Kerem Jaber has been playing for Maccabi Netanya for seven seasons. Despite his relatively young age, 26, he has become one of the team's veterans and even serves as the captain of the Diamonds. In recent years, regardless of who the coach of Maccabi Netanya was, Jaber was a regular starter, and his status in the team was clear as one of the leading players whose place in the lineup was guaranteed and very stable.
However, at the beginning of the current season, Jaber's status declined. He lost his place in the lineup in a process that began during the team's training camp in Poland and continued in the Toto Cup group stage matches, when in the last game against Hapoel Petah Tikva it was Amit Cohen who started at the right-back position, despite the absence of the injured Alon Azugi.
Also, other defenders from last season were pushed to the bench or are planned to leave the team soon, such as Itay Ben Shabat and goalkeeper Omer Niraon. The signing of the Portuguese goalkeeper Samuel Silva, as well as the pair of defenders, Azugi and Grigory Morozov, this summer was part of the message from coach Roni Levy regarding his dissatisfaction with the defensive play last season.
Netanya did finish the season in seventh place, the highest place in the lower playoff, but its goals conceded balance stood at 63 goals, with only the relegated Maccabi Bnei Reineh conceding more than it with 69 goals. Ashdod, which also relegated to the National League, conceded 62 goals, so Netanya actually presented last season a defensive game worthy of relegation.
Back to captain Jaber, who, as mentioned, lost his place in the lineup. The defender is signed for two more years at Maccabi Netanya, and recently Maccabi Haifa expressed interest in him, being willing to pay about half a million shekels for him, in addition to a player who will be loaned or transferred as part of the deal to the Diamonds' ranks.
On the list of players Maccabi Haifa is willing to talk about are Itay Ehud, Peter Agwa, Zohar Zasno, Goni Naor, and Daniel Golani. In Netanya, they will not settle for less than two million shekels, and in any case, they insist that no official offer has been received from Maccabi Haifa to date.
According to their version, it is possible that the talks and conversations are taking place with Dudu Dahan, Jaber's agent. In any case, they clarify that Jaber is a valued player in the team and is an integral part of Maccabi Netanya, so from their perspective, he is not being released.
As for the transfer window, we are only at the beginning of the road, as the window in Israel closes in mid-September and there is plenty of time until then. In Haifa, they would be happy to acquire Jaber, who is supposed to be a very significant reinforcement for them in the defensive unit, while in Netanya, on the other hand, they do not intend to give up quickly on the captain, who is very loved in the locker room and among the fans.
Even if there was a decline in Jaber's ability last season, the team believes that under coach Roni Levy he can return to himself and return to the starting lineup. A source in the team claims that the fact that there are two good defenders in the squad like Azugi and Jaber will only increase the competition between them and make both of them better.
As of now, Jaber is a Maccabi Netanya player in every sense, but no one will be surprised if in the end — under the right conditions and for the amount that Netanya will try to get out of the deal — he will wear the green uniform of Maccabi Haifa this season.
