Three months after Bilal Shaheen told Kiryat Shmona he would not be renewing his contract, the left-back may be on his way back to the club he tried to leave. ONE reports that fresh contact has opened between the two sides over a possible return — an unexpected U-turn given how firmly Shaheen signalled his intention to move on over the summer.

Shaheen's departure never actually happened. A trial spell at Hapoel Tel Aviv, where he trained with the first team as the coaching staff weighed him up, did not produce an offer. With the transfer window advancing and no club stepping in, the 23-year-old has found himself without a landing spot — and, according to the report, has come to terms with the possibility that Kiryat Shmona may end up being his only realistic option after all.

The obstacle now, as it was during the Hapoel Tel Aviv trial, is money. Any club signing Shaheen still owes Kiryat Shmona a development fee, with ONE putting the figure somewhere between 500,000 and 1,000,000 shekels. No suitor has been willing to meet that number, and it remains unresolved even as talk turns to a reunion with his old team.

It is a strange position for both sides. Shaheen pushed hard for an exit at the end of last season, confident a bigger move was there for the taking. Kiryat Shmona, for their part, had already begun planning around his absence. Neither camp anticipated the summer ending with the two back in dialogue, but that is where the situation now stands, with coach Shai Barda's squad building toward the new Ligat Ha'al campaign.

The reopened talks come as Kiryat Shmona prepare for Saturday's match against Ironi Tiberias, with the fitness of two other defenders also in focus. Shay Sabah is back to full training and available for selection, offering Barda an option even if the Shaheen saga drags on.

Right-back Ovadia Darwish is more doubtful. He has been managing groin inflammation and played through it with an injection in the team's last outing; his participation against Tiberias is not yet guaranteed.

There was better news up front, where striker Adrian Ugarriza — who scored prolifically in his debut season at the club — has done only partial training this week but is still expected to be fit enough to feature on Saturday.