Maccabi Haifa have put the finishing touches on the defensive reinforcement they spent the summer chasing, confirming the signing of centre-back Nigel Lonwijk from Wolverhampton Wanderers on a three-year contract, ONE reports.
The 23-year-old underwent a medical in Haifa before putting pen to paper, closing out a pursuit that Israeli outlets had been tracking closely for the past week as talks with Wolves progressed.
Lonwijk is a Surinamese-Dutch defender who came through PSV Eindhoven's academy before Wolves signed him in 2020. Since then he has been farmed out on a string of loans in the English lower divisions, at Huddersfield Town, Wycombe Wanderers and Plymouth Argyle, where he won the League One title in 2022/23.
Last season he was loaned to Luton Town in League One, making 45 appearances and scoring twice while picking up nine yellow cards. Standing 1.90 metres, he is primarily a centre-back but has also been used at right-back, giving Maccabi Haifa a defender who can slot into a back three or a back four.
ONE puts the transfer fee to Wolves at around €600,000, though other Israeli reports, including Israel Hayom, have cited a slightly lower figure closer to half a million euros. His salary in Haifa is projected at roughly €400,000 a season, according to Sport5 and Walla Sport.
Lonwijk becomes Maccabi Haifa's fifth permanent signing of the summer window, following the arrivals of Yair Mordechai, Wanderson, Omri Glazer and Andrea Novakovic, as the club continues to rebuild around Frenkie de Jong's former youth coach's core group ahead of a season that will include Champions League qualifying football.
The addition addresses a defensive department that has seen turnover this summer, with the club keen to add height, physicality and versatility at the back rather than relying solely on returning faces.
Maccabi Haifa are expected to formally unveil Lonwijk in the coming days, with pre-season friendlies giving new manager and staff an early look at how he fits alongside the club's existing centre-back pairing.
