Last update - 00:00 12/06/2007
Soccer / Premier League / Jumping ship from Hapoel Tel Aviv
By Yaniv Kobovic
After Hapoel Tel Aviv's 1-1 draw with Hapoel Kfar Saba in Matchday 27, which was only the second point Tel Aviv had earned during a nine-match stretch, Moni Harel sat in the stands for a while before making his way to the locker room.
"You are not supporting one another," the Hapoel Tel Aviv chairman told the players.
"And if you keep this up, you won't be here next season. The scouts coming to see you are the only thing you're thinking about."
Harel was correct, but what he did not know was that Hakoah Ramat Gan was the team doing the scouting. That is also the reason why his threat did not work. They simply did not want to stay with the club.
Since goalkeeper Shavit Elimelech was thrown out, the club has been rapidly falling apart. Zito Ogabona is already learning Romanian after signing with Belgium's Cluj in a deal that guarantees him a salary twice as high as what Hapoel offered; Yossi Abuksis retired; and if nothing changes, Gili Vermout will be on his way to Belgium next month.
The first official offer made to Hapoel Tel Aviv for any of the candidates to leave was for Vermout. Representatives of Belgian first division club Ghent made it clear that they were willing to pay the $250,000 transfer fee.
"Hapoel has one week to find a European club that is ready to pay what Ghent has offered," said Vermout on Sunday. "I believe that I am very close to leaving for Belgium to start my European career."
Even Salim Tuame, who only last season fought so hard to leave Maccabi Petah Tikva in order to return to Hapoel Tel Aviv, is talking about leaving - again. "I don't know where I'll be playing next year, but Hapoel knows that I want to go to Europe to try that option again," said Tuame on Sunday.
Tuame is being courted by another Belgian club, Standard Liege, and is set to sign a three-year deal for $500,000 per season. Tuame's transfer fee is $1 million, and Hapoel is hoping the sum will scuttle the deal.
Hapoel says it was surprised to hear that Tuame wanted to leave, which is difficult to explain since a member of the club's board, Shahar Ben Ami, is Tuame's lawyer, and Tuame does not make any move without his knowledge.
Dudu Dahan, who is behind the Belgian deals, claims that Hapoel's supposed surprise is only an attempt to discredit him.
"I am not a player agent, and I approached the players' agents, not the players themselves," he said on Sunday.
"When there is an offer for a player, I approach his agent, and that is what I did with Hapoel's players. Tuame and I met with Ben Ami and explained everything to him before the matter was settled.
"What Ben Ami told me privately will stay between us. I do not want to get into the problems between Tuame and Ben Ami, but I can clearly say this: Shahar Ben Ami was aware of the entire process involving Tuame and Standard Liege."
With all due respect to those players, the biggest loss would be Elyaniv Barda, the squad's best player this past season who arrived in Cyprus yesterday for discussions on a two-year contract with Apoel Nicosia.
Hapoel knows that even though the only official offer has been for Vermout, Barda has the best shot at leaving for a European club; his buyout clause is just $65,000.
Barda himself did not know the specifics of the Cyprus proposal, which is is why he flew out yesterday.
A two-year deal worth $250,000 per season would keep him on the neighboring island. Barda has received offers from Greece, Turkey and Spain, but Nicosia has made it clear that it will not wait too long, and if he does not sign soon, he will be removed from their plans for next year.
In the meantime, Harel is part of the national under-21 team's delegation to the European championship in the Netherlands. With all due respect to the U21s, if Harel does not keep an eye on his own team, Hapoel will not have any players when the 2007-08 season gets underway.
Yesterday, though, Hapoel Tel Aviv decided that it would do everything to keep Vermout, Tuame and Barda. Hapoel is approaching FIFA, UEFA, and the Israel Football Association with the hope of annulling any agreements signed by these players with the other teams.
Hapoel is claiming that, besides Barda, none of the players notified the club's management of contacts with the European teams, and Barda only informed the club after the matter was settled.