Opinion The legionnaires are back, and with them a mountain of expectations and tension Israel today

The return of the Legionaries is an added value for Israeli football and the fan base, and also a profitable step for the big teams.

The signing of the three returning sons - Eran Zahavi, Nir Biton and Tomer Hamed - generates tension, adrenaline and great curiosity.

The people of Israel love talents and stars who return to it and create anticipation for what is to come.

However, they don't come to the league young, their bodies are sometimes worn out or recovering from an injury, or worse - these are factors that can affect the level of performance.

Still, there's a lot of pressure on them to prove to everyone here that they're still great.

A returning legionnaire often brings with him fame and a rich resume, and receives a welcome like a knight returning to his homeland after a campaign of conquest.

Each of the three - Zahavi, Biton and Hamed - worked very hard to reach their position, along with the difficult price of being away from home, adjusting to life in a foreign country and moving with the nuclear family back to Israel.

All three of them, like the owners of the teams and the fans, have expectations.

Nir Biton.

Full of determination, photo: Alan Shiver

They are by all accounts successful talents, each with their own X factor, but the intriguing question still arises: is it enough for them to reintegrate at the top of the Premier League?

They stand in front of the Israeli fans who do not forgive losses and disappointments, so the level of expectations from the three places them in a difficult personal tension.

Zahavi

(35) returned to Maccabi Tel Aviv in my opinion mainly because he did not receive sufficiently attractive offers from teams abroad.

Also, again in my opinion, there was a family trigger that played the cards - the robbery that the Zahavi family went through in their apartment in the Netherlands.

For him, returning to Israel is right.

Zahavi is considered a winner, goal oriented and someone who really wants to please his team's fans.

We have already seen the passion in the early games in the European framework.

If the knee injury does not hamper his abilities, I bet he will fit in perfectly with the team he knows so well, with both sides having sweet shared memories.

Beaton

(30), after nine years in the Scottish luxury team Glasgow Celtic, where he played as a stopper and a midfielder, is the most decorated Israeli player of all time.

Bitton returns full of determination to win more titles, with Maccabi Tel Aviv, and what is more important to him in my opinion is actually the sympathy and recognition of his abilities by the Israeli audience, at least like those he received at the club of the Scottish champions.

Like Zazabi, Bitton is also carrying an old injury, dating back to 2018, but it is being treated well, and thanks to his sacrifice, he is expected to succeed alongside the friend who returned from Eindhoven.

Tomer Hemed.

want to prove to those that she didn't want him,

Hamed

(35) is without a doubt the big surprise prepared this season by Hapoel B.S. Hamed returned after 11 years abroad, and in my opinion the signing was brewing even before his return to Israel, after Hamed, it seems, was greatly disappointed that Maccabi Haifa did not offer him to join its ranks .

This internal disappointment will fix us Hamed, who is determined to challenge Maccabi Haifa and Maccabi Tel Aviv. In my eyes, he is less technical than the others, but on the other hand, he has an excellent head game and is a gifted scorer. His desire to prove everyone who didn't take him wrong, will provide him with a burst of energy Never-ending.

The return of the legionnaires will fascinate football fans to the screens, on the way to an interesting season, and I hope also a fair and violence-free one.

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