Maccabi Netanya's most talked-about teenager is about to put pen to paper. ONE reports that Yarin Abuhatzira, the 15-year-old forward who has already trained and travelled with the senior squad, is expected to sign a new long-term contract with the club this week.
The deal on the table, according to the report, runs for a minimum of three years and would remove the modest release clause — worth a few hundred thousand shekels — that currently sits in his existing youth terms, replacing it with an upgraded professional contract as he graduates into the senior set-up.
Talks accelerated when Abuhatzira's father, former Israeli international striker Shimon Abuhatzira, travelled with the player's agent, Nir Amir, to the club's pre-season training camp in Poland to push the negotiations forward. Club chairman Gil Lev has been personally involved in getting an agreement over the line.
The younger Abuhatzira only turns 16 on Monday, but he is already regarded as one of the most exciting prospects to come through Netanya's academy in years. He has been training and touring with the first team under special league dispensation that allows him to feature for the seniors well below the usual age threshold.
He has scored twice for the senior side in a 5-0 friendly win over Poland's Cracovia Kraków during the training camp, and recently netted on his senior debut to become the youngest scorer in this season's Toto Cup.
Beni Lam, the club's professional development director, has been effusive about the winger, telling reporters he is "the Israeli Lamine Yamal" and that "Ligat Ha'Al is merely a stepping stone toward higher European levels" for him. His youth coach, Ofir Haim, has compared his blend of speed and explosiveness to a mix of former Israel forwards Ronen Harazi and Omer Atzili.
The numbers from his junior career back up the hype: 29 goals in the third-tier youth division, 21 in the second tier and 23 at the top level, en route to becoming one of the most productive scorers to pass through Netanya's youth ranks.
Family history runs through the story. Shimon Abuhatzira won the Israeli Premier League title with Ironi Kiryat Shmona in 2011-12 and earned caps for the senior national team during a career that also took in Hapoel Petah Tikva and Maccabi Haifa. The family relocated from Kiryat Shmona to Netanya when Yarin was 10, and he has come through the Sar-Tov academy system ever since.
Nothing has been signed yet, and ONE's report stresses the deal is expected rather than confirmed — but with the club chairman, the player's family and his representatives all pulling in the same direction, Netanya appear close to tying down one of the most promising teenagers in Israeli football before bigger clubs come calling.
