Maccabi Haifa go into the 2026/27 season with a redrawn football department, a heavily reshuffled squad and, by ONE's own assessment, at least as many open questions as answers. The Greens finished a distant fifth in 2025/26 without ever seriously threatening for the title, and the club has spent the summer trying to make sure that does not happen again.
At the top, continuity was chosen over upheaval. Barak Bachar extended his contract and remains head coach, while Lior Refaelov — the former playmaker who spent years starring for Club Brugge and Israel's national team — has been formally installed as the club's sporting director. According to Israeli reporting, Refaelov's central task is to ease the financial burden left by recent transfer business while still giving Bachar the reinforcements he wants.
The marquee move of the window is a homecoming. Goalkeeper Omri Glazer has returned to Haifa on a three-year deal reportedly worth around €400,000 a season, coming back to the club that developed him after a decade playing abroad. He steps into the gloves vacated by Georgiy Yermakov, the Ukrainian number one who is set to leave for Metalist Kharkiv.
Around Glazer, Haifa have rebuilt large parts of the squad. Brazilian left-back Wanderson "Tsunami" signed a two-year contract, attacking midfielder Bruninho arrived from Ukraine's Karpaty Lviv, Dutch defender Nigel Lonwijk joined from Wolverhampton Wanderers, and American forward Andrija Novakovich was added up front alongside Israeli forward Yair Mordechai. Iad Halaileh and Yarin Levi have both returned to the first-team fold after loan spells away.
The outgoing list is just as long. Trevante Stewart, signed for roughly €1.5 million from Radnički Niš and a nine-goal contributor last season, is leaving after a spell marked by two red cards and disciplinary concerns. Abdoulaye Seck has been released following a limited and unconvincing run of appearances, and Matías Nahuel departs after two quiet years with a financial settlement attached. Dolev Haziza and Yermakov round out the list of significant exits.
Off the pitch, ONE reports the club is working with an estimated budget of 100 to 120 million shekels for the coming campaign, and that roughly 22,000 season tickets have already been renewed — a notably higher rate than last year, suggesting the fan base has not lost patience despite the trophy drought.
The ambition attached to all this squad and boardroom turnover is explicit: Haifa are targeting a top-four finish and a return to continental football in 2026/27. Merely reaching the upper playoff bracket, as ONE frames it, will not be considered an acceptable outcome this time around.
Whether the pieces fit together quickly enough is the question hanging over the project. A goalkeeper change, a new sporting director learning the budget levers, and half a dozen fresh faces from four different countries all need to gel before the title race begins in earnest — which is precisely the uncertainty behind ONE's description of a summer defined as much by question marks as by change.
