Ex-Palermo player Eran Zahavi is busy getting adjusted to his new life at Kiryat Shalom and wearing the yellow jersey for the first time. An exclusive interview.
Last week Eran Zahavi, who has spent the last year and a half bolstering the midfield at the Italian side Palermo, packed up his bags and returned the city that was his home before his departure to the land of Pisa and pizza. In his first exclusive interview with the official Maccabi Tel Aviv website, Zahavi talks about his reasons for returning to Israel. "I'm one of those guys who can't stand not playing. If I'm not playing it hurts me. It's hard for me to watch a match from the bench. That was one of the things I was missing in Italy." The midfielder was also dismissive of the criticism that he wasn't playing much and couldn't deal with the challenge: "If someone thinks playing 20 games in Seria A in his first season is a failure, well, what else is there to say."
Here in Israel it's no surprise that a great deal of the media attention is focused on his roundabout move from Red (Hapoel Tel Aviv) to Yellow. For his part Zahavi feels no need to apologise. "I had some really great times at Hapoel, I'll never forget that and will never deny it either. That will always stay with me. It's part of my career and just because I achieved a lot of success at Hapoel doesn't mean I can't do the same at Maccabi." At the end of the interview, Zahavi chooses to look ahead and has a message for all the Maccabi Tel Aviv fans: "I wasn't brought here to save the club, I came here to be part of the team. Maccabi Tel Aviv is on top of the table even without my
help. That's where we are, that's where we should stay and I'm here to be a part of all that."
