Elias signing at Hapoel Haifa was a joint call with players, says owner Katz

Hapoel Haifa's decision to break the bank for Shay Elias this summer was not made by the coaching staff alone, owner Yoav Katz has revealed, in a wide-ranging interview in which he confirmed that squad members were consulted before the club committed to the midfielder.

Elias, 27, joined Haifa this close season after leaving Hapoel Be'er Sheva, where his four-year contract had run its course. A product of the Hapoel Tel Aviv academy, he had also been linked with interest from Beitar Jerusalem before opting for the move north.

The size of the outlay surprised plenty of observers around the league, and Katz did not shy away from explaining how the call was reached. "This was a shared decision, not only with the professional staff, but also with players who took part in making it," he said.

"We don't usually dismiss the opinions of our players," Katz added. "In this case there were players we consulted with, and it ended up being a joint decision."

Pressed on whether the club's captain specifically had been part of those conversations, Katz stopped short of confirming it directly. "I've already said too much," he replied, declining to elaborate further.

The comments came as Hapoel Haifa wind down preparations for the new Ligat Ha'al season, days after producing a comeback 3-2 win over city rivals Maccabi Haifa in a preseason derby, with teenage forward Yaad Gonen among the scorers.

Gonen's name also surfaced elsewhere in the interview, this time on a more sensitive subject: the ownership of his registration card. Katz was confronted with documentation, reportedly dated August 2024, showing that Hapoel Akko holds roughly 35 percent of the financial rights to any future sale of the young forward.

Katz was notably guarded when asked to clarify the arrangement. "I need to check that, I'm not sure you're right," he said, before adding that Hapoel Tel Aviv had approached the club about buying into Gonen's card some two years earlier. "I don't want to get into details I'm not familiar with right now," he said.

Between the Elias transfer and the questions over Gonen's future, the interview offered a rare glimpse into how collaboratively — and how cagily — Katz is willing to operate as Hapoel Haifa build a squad they hope can push near the top of the table this season.