Possible difficulties with captain Omri Altman who ends contract in summer • Lidor Cohen's ambition to return to Europe • and Nir Klinger's future • The Reds want to ensure a stay in the Premier League before they deal next season: "We have a good base"
Omri Altman
Photo:
Alan Shiver
Hapoel Tel Aviv's survival campaign will enter the final line this weekend with the opening of the lower playoffs. The Reds hope to ensure a stay as soon as possible so they can prepare in peace for next season and try to prevent the departure of some of the senior players.
Hapoel's big goal for next season is to keep captain Omri Altman, who is considered Nir Klinger's biggest star.
Last season he scored 11 league goals and added 4 more assists, and this season he has 9 goals in all competitions (7 in the league) and more assists.
Only this goal is not so simple.
Altman's shares have risen significantly in the last two years so that in order to keep him in Khodorov, Hapoel will have to upgrade his current contract.
A contract that in terms of current management is already considered very expensive.
"Need to seal it now"
The 27-year-old Altman is well aware that his imminent contract could be the most significant for his financial future, because he is at the right age and at the height of his career.
What's more, his representatives believe that he will be in great demand in the summer in Europe as well, when in leagues like Austria, Switzerland or the Netherlands he will certainly be able to upgrade financially and professionally.
"We need to sign Altman now, without waiting for us to stay in the league or not," say people around the club, adding, "What other player is approaching his numbers?"
Hapoel have already begun rumors regarding the captain, but the desire is to address all of these issues after the team ensures their stay in the league.
Not only the future of Omri Altman is unclear.
The midfielder Lidor Cohen, who is undoubtedly considered one of the better players on the team since joining the transfer window in January, is ending his contract at the end of the season, and is considering leaving for Europe once again, after the short adventure he had this season at Della Guri, but an attractive offer from the Reds could keep him .
A Hapoel source explained that "we are not in a hurry. We will ensure the stay and then we will deal with everything. At the beginning of the season we started with almost no players, but if with the help of the name we stay in the league, we have a good base of players to lead us next season."
Indeed, Hapoel has several senior players signed for next season on whom the team will probably be built, such as Dan Einbinder and Ben Bitton, whose contracts will increase significantly after the season Betar and BS participated in their salaries, Sianda Kolo, Ernest Shtakos, and other young players like Osher Davida, Danny Gruper , Shai Elias, Raz Shlomo, Ofek Bitton, Doron Leidner and more.
Hapoel also has an option to extend Iyad Abu Abid's contract and it will probably be fulfilled.
Shlomi Azulai and Raz Stein are also signed for next season, but their stay or departure will also depend on their ability to play in the playoffs, as will Eddie Gottlieb, who barely played this year due to injuries and is ending his contract.
And what's going on with Nir Klinger?
The coach also ends his contract in the summer, and as was first reported in "Israel Today", if the team stays in the league, the management is expected to give him an offer for a new contract in the team and he is definitely interested in continuing to coach the Reds.
According to a source at Hapoel, if the team stays in the league but plays very bad football, then there may be a change of mind regarding the coach, but the chances of that are not high.