Dolev Haziza, the former Maccabi Haifa captain who left the club this summer after seven years, is expected to sign for Maccabi Netanya, Israeli sports outlet Sport5 reported Sunday, adding that the gaps between the two sides have narrowed in recent days.
Haziza's agent met with Netanya officials on Sunday, and the club hopes to complete the deal within days — ideally before Tuesday, when Netanya is due to hold its traditional season-opening training session. The club is said to have pushed that opening back by a week to finish assembling its squad.
Sunday's report fits a steady trail of coverage over the past month. Netanya's interest first surfaced in late June, when the club was said to have opened preliminary talks with the midfielder, and a report last week described significant progress after head coach Ronny Levy spoke directly with the player, though it noted that gaps over salary still remained at that stage.
Haziza, 31, spent seven seasons at Maccabi Haifa after arriving from Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv in 2019. Sunday's report credits him with 247 appearances, 43 goals and 41 assists for the Greens, along with three league championships won during Haifa's title run from 2021 to 2023 — a period in which he also wore the captain's armband. Last season he scored nine goals and added two assists.
His exit from Haifa was not of his own choosing. Israeli outlets reported earlier this summer that the club informed the attacking midfielder he was not part of its professional plans, and that he initially weighed a move abroad before talks with Netanya gathered pace in recent weeks.
A move to Netanya would carry an element of homecoming: Haziza was born in the coastal city in July 1995. It would also be only the fourth stop of a career that has taken in Bnei Yehuda, a loan spell at Hapoel Ramat Gan and Maccabi Haifa, alongside 18 caps for the Israel national team.
The deal remains unsigned, though the direction of travel is unmistakable. In a conversation with Levy on Monday morning, Haziza said he was "determined to prove myself" and to show he can still lead a top-flight side, according to a follow-up report.
That report added that only small financial gaps remain, centred on two possible ways of bridging his wages: Maccabi Haifa topping up his first-year salary, or a compensation payment from Haifa before the move goes through. Netanya's management was described as optimistic about completing the transfer within days.
