Maccabi Tel Aviv are pushing to send two more fringe players out on loan before the European transfer window shuts, with ONE reporting advanced negotiations to move on Moldovan striker Ion Nicolaescu and winger Henry Addo.
Neither player figures in the club's plans for the season, and Maccabi's preference, as with other squad members they no longer need, is to arrange a loan rather than terminate a contract outright and release a player for nothing.
The Nicolaescu talks are complicated by administrative detail as much as football logic. According to ONE, the interested club plays in a league that caps first-team squads at 21 players, forcing its recruitment staff to weigh up whether to reserve one of those precious spots for the striker now or wait until he is fit and available before committing.
That timing question is not trivial. Israeli outlets including Walla Sport have reported separately that Nicolaescu, sidelined by injury, is not expected to return to full training until around November, which leaves any prospective loan club staring at months of paying wages for a player who cannot yet play.
ONE also notes that under the relevant regulations, Maccabi can only formally free up his registration slot - effectively "freezing" him off the active squad list - if Nicolaescu himself agrees in writing and signs off on the arrangement.
Addo's situation looks further advanced. ONE describes talks over a loan to a Portuguese club as being at a mature stage, though the Portuguese side has not been named. The report adds that Maccabi turned down several credible loan offers for the winger over the summer at the players' own request, a stance the club is not willing to entertain a second time.
The moves are part of a broader squad trim overseen by sporting director Steven Vanharen, the Belgian appointed to the role in June. ONE reports that Vanharen used a press conference to confirm the club continues to work on outgoing loans, including for Venezuelan forward Kervin Andrade.
For Andrade, Maccabi are said to be relaxed about terms, not insisting on an obligatory purchase clause and open to what is commonly called a "dry" loan - one with no strings attached beyond the season, so long as it leaves the door open for a possible return to Tel Aviv further down the line.
None of the three moves is finalised, and Maccabi's priority in each case remains the same: clear space and reduce the wage bill without simply cutting players loose.
