Hapoel Beer Sheva, freshly crowned as Israel's champions, are closing in on a left-back who has spent the last two seasons plying his trade in MLS. Sport5's Tomer Levi reports that Pedro Amador, a 27-year-old Portuguese defender contracted to Atlanta United, is on the verge of putting pen to paper in Beer Sheva.
The move, as Sport5 frames it, is a succession plan rather than a raid for a starting shirt: Amador is being lined up to eventually take over from Hélder Lopes, the 37-year-old left-back who has anchored that flank for the champions and who is expected to move on this summer.
Amador's road to Israel has run through some of Portugal's better-known academies and second-tier ambitions. He came up through Sporting Lisbon's youth system before senior spells at Belenenses and Braga, then helped Moreirense win promotion back to Portugal's Primeira Liga in the 2022/23 season.
Atlanta United signed him on a free transfer in July 2024, handing him a deal through the 2026 MLS season with a club option for 2027. He made an immediate mark, starting 15 of his 16 appearances that first year and contributing eight assists from full-back. This season he has featured seven times in MLS play plus three cup appearances for the Georgia club.
Should the transfer go through, Amador would become Hapoel Beer Sheva's fifth arrival of the summer window and only their second import, after Brazilian winger João Victor, who joined in a reported €1.7 million deal. Goalkeeper Marco Wolff, defender Itay Rotman and midfielder Niv Yehoshua have also joined this window, per Sport5.
The rebuild comes from a position of strength. Manager Ran Kozhuk led Beer Sheva to their sixth championship in club history this past season, beating Maccabi Tel Aviv 4-2 in the title-deciding match, and has since signed on for two more years in the dugout — giving him a mandate to reshape the squad for a season that will likely include continental football.
None of this has been confirmed yet by either club. Sport5's report describes the deal as imminent rather than done, and there has been no statement from Hapoel Beer Sheva or Atlanta United on Amador's future as of Wednesday.
