Beitar Jerusalem may have to open their European campaign without Luka Gadrani. The Georgian centre-back is doubtful for Thursday's Conference League second-round qualifier, first leg, against AEK Larnaca, according to Israeli reporting on Sunday morning — and the fitness question has landed in the middle of an increasingly public standoff over his salary.
The doubt is medical rather than tactical. Gadrani is working his way back from injury, and head coach Almog Cohen said 'the chances are not high' when asked about him and the club's other injured players ahead of the trip to Cyprus.
He sat out Saturday night's Toto Cup quarter-final against Hapoel Tel Aviv in Netanya, consistent with the team sheets from that tie: he appeared neither in the starting eleven nor among the substitutes used as Beitar drew 2–2 and went out 3–1 on penalties.
The money is where the two Sunday reports diverge, and every figure belongs to its outlet. One has Gadrani earning approximately €250,000 a season and seeking an improvement of at least 50 per cent. The other goes further, reporting that the player's camp has conveyed a demand of €450,000–500,000 net per season, against a Beitar offer stretching to roughly €320,000–350,000.
The outlets disagree on the numbers but agree on the substance: the defender wants a substantially bigger contract, and the club accepts the current terms need reopening.
For all the gap, the tone from both camps is reportedly constructive. Talks are expected to intensify this week, and there is optimism born of both sides' desire to continue the partnership; any new agreement would reportedly run for at least two years.
The same reporting notes how much the coaching staff missed their defensive pairing in Netanya. The view inside the club is that the back line looks different when Gadrani and fellow centre-back Brayan Carabalí are both fit — the two goals conceded, staff were quoted as saying, 'with slightly more concentration, would not have created any threat.'
Gadrani's leverage is easy to trace. The 29-year-old, born in Tbilisi in April 1997, joined Beitar in September 2025 and quickly became a fixture at the heart of the defence; his current deal, in shirt number 44, runs to 30 June 2027.
With two seasons of control remaining, Beitar are under no immediate pressure. But a settled, motivated first-choice centre-back on the eve of a European campaign is worth paying for, and both sides appear to know it.
The calendar now does the squeezing. Beitar open against AEK Larnaca on Thursday 23 July, with the return leg a week later on 30 July — and the coming days will have to resolve both questions at once: whether Gadrani's body is ready for Cyprus, and whether his next contract will be agreed closer to his number or the club's.
