Maccabi Tel Aviv's search for a new wing option this summer has mostly pointed abroad, but according to a report by ONE, a familiar Israeli name has quietly resurfaced on the club's list: Maccabi Netanya's Oz Bilu.
The need is real. Emir Sahiti, who arrived at Bloomfield in January on loan from Hamburg SV and lit up the second half of the season on the flank, saw that loan run out on June 30. His long-term future at the club has not been settled, and ONE reports that finding a wing reinforcement — whether Sahiti stays or not — has become a genuine priority for the yellow-and-blue.
The club's primary route, per the report, runs overseas: Maccabi Tel Aviv have already submitted offers to several foreign wing candidates, none of whom are named in the report. That reflects the squad's current composition — the club already has eight foreign players registered, a number that shapes how much further room there is to add more import players without offloading elsewhere.
It is against that backdrop that Bilu's name has come back into the conversation, ONE reports — not as the current plan, but as an Israeli contingency should the foreign pursuit stall. The club is said to be monitoring him rather than actively negotiating.
It would not be the first time. Maccabi Tel Aviv looked at the 25-year-old last summer as well, before ultimately going a different route and bringing in Sahiti. Bilu has also been the subject of interest elsewhere in the league — Sport5 has reported in the past that Maccabi Haifa explored a trade for him built around Gai Malmed, a deal that never materialized.
Bilu enters the picture in career-best form. He had his strongest season yet at senior level in 2025/26, scoring 10 league goals and adding four assists in 31 appearances after coach Roni Levy moved him back out to the wing following a spell as a central striker and No. 10. Netanya rewarded him this summer with a contract extension through the end of the 2027/28 season, underlining how central he has become to the club — and making any move for him anything but straightforward.
Maccabi Tel Aviv's summer to-do list extends beyond the wing search. The club is also managing an injury to forward Ion Nicolaescu and has yet to resolve the situation around Venezuelan forward Kervin Andrade, who joined from Brazil's Fortaleza last September.
For now, there is no indication of direct contact between Maccabi Tel Aviv and either Bilu or Maccabi Netanya. He remains, in ONE's telling, a name worth watching rather than an active target — but one the champions clearly have not crossed off.
