Maccabi Tel Aviv have drawn a clear line for their foreign contingent this summer: prove yourselves in Europe first, and only then will the club entertain talk of selling you on.
The message was laid out on the second episode of ONE's official Maccabi Tel Aviv podcast, hosted by Raz Amir and Avi Nemani, which described the club's stance toward its international players in blunt terms — first guarantee the team's place in European competition, and only afterwards will anyone discuss a sale.
Three names were specifically tied to that directive: centre-back Tyrese Asante, winger Hélio Varela and defender Christian Blitz, all understood by the podcast to have been given the same instruction as interest in their futures builds elsewhere.
Blitz's situation carries an added layer of concern — the podcast flagged an injury the club is monitoring closely, with his fitness for the coming European fixtures still to be confirmed.
Asante, a Dutch-born defender of Ghanaian descent, and Varela, a Cape Verde international winger who arrived from Belgian side Gent and scored at this year's World Cup for his country, have both established themselves as first-team regulars under new coach Kenny Miller.
The policy is easy to justify after Wednesday's result. Maccabi routed Sheriff Tiraspol 5-0 away in the first leg of the Europa League's second qualifying round, with Sayed Abu Farhat scoring twice — including a penalty — either side of goals from Dor Peretz, Sagiv Yehezkel and Issouf Sissoko.
The win leaves the tie all but decided before the return fixture, which Maccabi will host on July 30 not in Tel Aviv but at the Adjarabet Arena in Batumi, Georgia — the venue the club has used for home European matches this season.
The podcast also credited Miller, the former Scotland and Rangers striker who took interim charge in January before being confirmed as full-time head coach in June, with building an unusually quick understanding with his squad, pointing to the connection struck up almost from his first sessions in charge as reason for optimism heading into the campaign.
Miller led Maccabi to the State Cup last season — the club's first domestic cup in five years — after they slipped to third place in both the regular season and the championship playoffs, missing out on retaining the league title. He followed that with a 3-1 Super Cup win over Hapoel Be'er Sheva this month, his first piece of silverware since being handed the job permanently.
On the recruitment side, the club continues to push to close a deal for Slovenian striker Ester Sokler, with the podcast describing the transfer from Serbia's Radnički 1923 as being on its way. Israeli reports have put the fee at roughly one million euros, with Maccabi hoping to have the 27-year-old, who scored 16 goals last season, registered in time for the European qualifiers.
