Ten days ago came Honved Budapest's appeal to Maxim Flakushchenko.
His agent Shahar Greenberg made the connection, and during this time the Hungarians did their homework, until they decided to go for the 26-year-old Israeli.
When he arrived, the club's Scottish sporting director, Chris Dockerty, surprised him and told him they had done their homework.
"He just knew everything about me," Flakushchenko told Israel Today in a special interview with Hungary after the signing in Hungary. "It goes beyond the details of my career. "People in the country, from what I understand. When I came I saw that they knew me and it gives a feeling that they really want you and you are worth it."
How did you roll into Honved?
"I ended a contract with Maccabi Haifa and aimed abroad in advance.
My agent Shahar Greenberg did a really good job, knew how to target a team that would suit me, and everything has closed in the last few days.
My goal was to go abroad and move forward and I'm glad it happened. There was talk and interest in the country, but I told everyone that my goal was to go abroad.
The goal was not just to go out and say 'I went out' but to move forward. "
Maxim Flakushchenko.
Moving to Hungary,
But this is a Hungarian league, some will say that this is not progress from the Israeli league.
"If they come here and see what the club has, they will see conditions in Honved like in Barcelona. Seven or eight pitches, a huge gym I have never seen in the country, a wide professional team with a resume, a new stadium where conditions are also abnormal. In terms of football, I do not think That the level is not good enough, because a lot of players go from the Hungarian league to the senior leagues.
"Now Hungary have beaten England 0-4, and four players in the squad are playing in the Hungarian league. That says it all."
And yet, you signed for the season with an option, the goal is to advance from Hungary to a more senior league?
"This is a great place to develop. I do not think it is right for an Israeli to jump from our league straight to the Spanish league, unless you are really a crazy lift. To be there you have to climb step by step, and Honved is exactly what I needed for my career."
Maxim Flakushchenko.
"I could have left earlier," Photo: Ami Shumen
You were a big promise, sold at a young age to Maccabi Haifa, what happened along the way?
"I could have gone abroad earlier, but things happened.
I'll keep it to myself, I do not want to open fronts with anyone, I'm in a good place now and that's what matters.
I also had two years at Hapoel Hadera and learned a lot there.
When you leave Maccabi Haifa for Hadera, which I really like, it's kind of a drop and I got a headache at first.
On the other hand, a family club entered and I was very worried.
The whole period that was just fortified me. "
Flakushchenko grew up in Kiryat Ata after immigrating from Ukraine.
His father, a former boxer and a soldier in the Soviet army, used to work with his son for hours on goal kicks, which over the years became his trademark.
The girls in a not-so-simple neighborhood in the Krayot forged Falkushchenko, who was excited during the first call to his parents and said: "They wanted the move even more than me. They will come to visit here a lot, and I will do everything to make them happy. It's great fun. "For me, everything is theirs. I want to thank them for everything."
Maxim Flakushchenko with Marco Belbul at Maccabi Haifa, Photo: Maor Elkelsi
Honved Budapest is the first stop in Europe on the way to the next stops?
"It's hard to know, I just signed. With the help of the name, I will make a big season here, team and individual, and then we'll see where everything develops. I have nothing to think about now about the future."
Maxim Flakushchenko.
It's his time, Photo: Alan Schieber
The club finished in ninth place last season, but won 14 championships, were you told what the expectations are?
"My and the club's expectations are the same - to finish as high as possible, to take a championship and a trophy. I believe it is possible, but they believe no less than I do."
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