Kings Kangwa came within a whisker of missing the biggest night of his farewell season in Israel. The Zambian midfielder, who completed a move from Hapoel Beer Sheva to Panathinaikos in the last week of July, has revealed that a transfer complication almost ruled him out of the Champions League qualifier that sent his old club through to the next round.

"There was a 99% chance I wouldn't play against Vikingur because of that situation, but in the end we managed to fix it," Kangwa told ONE, without spelling out the precise nature of the problem beyond it being tied to the timing of his exit from Beer Sheva.

The tie in question was Beer Sheva's Champions League second qualifying round meeting with Vikingur Reykjavik. Kangwa had already scored in the first leg in Iceland, a 2-1 defeat on 21 July, before setting up the second goal as Beer Sheva won the return fixture 2-0 at Turner Stadium on 29 July to go through 3-2 on aggregate — his last significant contribution in a Hapoel shirt.

Days later the transfer to Athens was confirmed. Panathinaikos are reported to have paid a fixed fee of around €3.8 million, with a further €700,000 in add-ons taking the total package to roughly €4.5m, on a contract running to June 2030 — terms neither club has officially itemised.

Kangwa leaves Beer Sheva with a decorated two-year record: he was named Israeli Footballer of the Year for the 2025-26 season after a 12-goal campaign, won the Israeli league title the same year, and had already lifted the Israeli Cup in 2024-25 and the Israel Super Cup in 2025-26.

He was candid about the toll of the war in Israel on his decision to move on. "It was very difficult. War is not something you can joke about. Where I come from there is no war and no fighting, so for me and my family it was very hard," he said. "Everyone told me, 'You need to go home,' and you can understand them — but Hapoel Beer Sheva supported us and gave us all the support we needed." He confirmed the conflict was "one of the reasons" behind his decision to leave.

Money was not the deciding factor, he insisted, listing offers he turned down to sign for Panathinaikos: interest from New York City FC, from clubs in Russia and "from many clubs in Bulgaria."

Kangwa also addressed why he never crossed to one of Beer Sheva's domestic rivals during his time in Israel. Asked about interest from Maccabi Tel Aviv and Maccabi Haifa, he was unequivocal: "I preferred Beer Sheva. It was the right place for me." On any prospect of an Israeli return down the line, he added: "My preference is only for Hapoel Beer Sheva in Israel."

For now, the 27-year-old midfielder begins a new chapter in Athens, with a club that beat off competition from three continents to land one of the Israeli league's standout performers of the past two seasons.