Ironi Kiryat Shmona have added a promising young winger to their academy ranks, signing Mohammad Graba away from Maccabi Haifa, ONE reported on Tuesday.
According to the report, the deal was struck through agent Noam Markowitz and runs for three seasons, taking Graba through the core of his development years at the club's youth setup in the Upper Galilee.
The move caps a strong campaign for Graba in Haifa's colours. He made 27 appearances for Maccabi Haifa's U-17 side last season, starting 18 of them, and scored seven goals while contributing several assists as the team finished fourth in its division, ONE said.
Graba's path to Haifa's academy ran through Beitar Haifa and MK Nahalal before he was picked up by one of Israel's flagship youth programmes. The switch north to Kiryat Shmona is designed, per the report, to give him a clearer route toward first-team football rather than simply a bigger name on his CV.
He joins a youth department run by Omer Levinson, who is beginning his fifth consecutive season in charge of Kiryat Shmona's academy sides.
Those age-group teams have had an unusual few years: ONE noted that Kiryat Shmona's youth squads avoided relegation in three separate seasons because of disruption to the league caused by the war, a reminder of how deeply the conflict has touched even grassroots competition in the north.
For now, Graba's move is a bet on development rather than an immediate first-team story — but Kiryat Shmona's academy has fed players up before, and the club will hope his scoring form from Haifa's U-17s travels with him.
