Bnei Sakhnin are weighing a move for free-agent forward Rotem Hatuel as they fill out their squad for the 2026/27 season, Sport5 reports, though the club is understood to be split over whether the 28-year-old still has enough in the tank.
Hatuel built his name at Hapoel Be'er Sheva, where a five-year spell brought 27 goals in 107 appearances and a best campaign of 16 goals and three assists. He won the State Cup with the club in 2021/22 and the Israeli Supercup the following year, and earned his only Israel cap in a 2022 friendly against Malta.
The picture has since dimmed. Hatuel lost his place in Be'er Sheva once Ran Kojok took charge, and went out on loan first to Hapoel Tel Aviv and then, last season, to Hapoel Haifa, where he managed three goals and two assists in 26 league games. He is now on the market as a free agent.
According to Sport5, opinions inside Bnei Sakhnin are divided on whether to take a chance on him, but there is an acknowledgement that Israel's free-agent pool is thin on proven scoring options, and the club is said to be examining the move seriously ahead of the new campaign.
The Hatuel enquiry comes alongside other business at the club under manager Yossi Abukasis: forward Loai Halaf has officially joined Sakhnin, while the club is also weighing a return for Saher Tajji, sold to Beitar Jerusalem two years ago in a deal that included Ahmad Salman, after a difficult spell there.
For Hatuel, a move to Sakhnin would offer a route back to regular football after a year on the margins — and a chance to prove there is still substance behind the reputation he built in Be'er Sheva.
