Hapoel Petah Tikva's Youth A squad is getting sharper teeth up front. ONE reports the club has added two attacking wingers, Liel Azoulai and Idan Kostaki, who between them scored 39 goals in last season's Youth B league — a striking return that has followed both players across the country this summer.
Azoulai arrives on a three-year deal after a prolific campaign with Beitar Tiberias Netanya, where he scored 14 goals in the Youth B league before a spell with Beitar Yehuda Tel Aviv. According to ONE, his path through Israeli youth football began at Hapoel Be'er Sheva's academy, before stops at Ashdod SC and eventually Beitar Tiberias, where his scoring form made him a wanted man. He is represented by agent Oren Sterling of the PLAY IT agency.
Kostaki, meanwhile, joins from cross-town rivals Maccabi Petah Tikva on a two-year deal with a club option for a third season, ONE reports. He was the more prolific of the pair last season, scoring 18 goals in the Youth B league for Maccabi, and his numbers were even more eye-catching earlier in his development — 22 goals at the Under-12 level for the same club, after starting out at the Gadna Tel Aviv academy and playing for the Nes Tziona youth section. His agent is Ran Rosenthal.
The double capture gives new Hapoel Petah Tikva Youth A coach Bar Cohen, who previously worked with the youth ranks at Kiryat Yam and Hapoel Herzliya, a pair of proven finishers to build his attack around as preparations continue for a season ONE says is roughly three weeks from kicking off.
For a club whose senior side has spent recent seasons fighting for promotion back to the top flight, investment in the academy pipeline carries obvious long-term appeal — and two wingers who have already shown they can find the net at every age group they have passed through give Cohen's group a clear head start heading into the new campaign.
