Progress between Maccabi Tel Aviv and Elche regarding the transfer of Roy Revivo
Contacts between the 'Yellows' and the Spanish league team continue, with the left-back determined to leave immediately. Maccabi Tel Aviv is stunned after the defeat to CSKA Sofia in the Europa League. Miller: 'We did not show the best version of ourselves'.
After it was revealed on ynet that Roy Revivo had reached an agreement with Elche, there is progress between Maccabi Tel Aviv and the Spanish club, which submitted an official offer of 3.3 million euros. The Israel national team defender is determined to leave Kiryat Shalom immediately, fly to Spain, and follow in the footsteps of his father, Haim, who played for four years at Celta Vigo in La Liga. Elche is interested in paying the transfer fee in three installments, but there are currently two obstacles: the 15 percent due to Revivo from the transfer fee (about half a million euros gross) and a demand to increase the percentage from a future sale of the player.
From Maccabi's perspective, the amount will lead to Revivo's immediate release, but he will have to waive the amount due to him from the transfer, or Elche will have to bear the costs of the amount in question. Revivo was the one who demanded not to fly with Maccabi Tel Aviv to Batumi for the first match of the Europa League qualifiers against CSKA Sofia, in which they were defeated 3:0. It seems that if he is not released by the return leg next week in Bulgaria, he will again not be part of the squad. The assessment is that eventually Revivo will play for Elche, and Maccabi is already trying to locate a foreign left-back. After Shahar Rozen started yesterday in the left-back position instead of Revivo and was substituted at halftime, Noam Ben Harush is expected to start in this position in the return leg next week. Another player expected to leave is Tyrese Asante, who did not fly last week to the match against Sheriff Tiraspol, claiming he was ill.
Disappointment at Maccabi Tel Aviv after the defeat
After Maccabi Tel Aviv reached the Europa League in the last two seasons, yesterday's defeat to CSKA made this task almost impossible. This was mainly due to poor preparation and weak game management by the coach, Kenny Miller, alongside unusual conduct at Kiryat Shalom that led to Revivo being left in the country, a move that completely collapsed the house of cards for the 'Yellows'.
'This tie is still far from over, but the goal we conceded at the end certainly makes the challenge greater. We didn't win the individual battles, which is the 'dirty' part of football, and we ran back too slowly when we lost balls in a cheap way,' said Miller after the match.
The coach also said: 'I felt that we lost the ball too many times, even when we were not under any pressure. CSKA knew how to take advantage of their moments in an excellent way, while we did not show the best version of ourselves. It is never easy to play without fans in the stands, but that is the situation for both teams.'
