Goni Naor's name was first placed on the table of Maccabi Haifa, back when he was a player in the youth team of Beitar Jerusalem. The professional manager at the time, Yaniv Cohen, was interested and checked, but very quickly the player moved to Maccabi Tel Aviv and from there he returned to the capital, precisely to the red side of the city, and landed in Hapoel Jerusalem.
Amazingly, Naor's name came up alongside Aden Kartsev at Maccabi Haifa, until in the end the Greens bought the player from Po'el Jerusalem.
But even as a teenager, Naor stepped into Kartsev's shoes in the youth department at Maccabi Tel Aviv. "At the beginning of my career as a youth coach at Maccabi Tel Aviv (yearbook 1999), I went to see a team training," said his former coach Uri Ozan, about following the young midfielder, "the player The first one that caught my eye was Goni, perhaps because he reminded me of myself. He was the smallest and the thinnest, but there was something in his movement, in his wisdom, that really spoke to me. With the help of Nir Levin and in cooperation with his father Eran, we moved him from home." R to Maccabi Tel Aviv, and there he stepped into the shoes of Aden Kartsev, who came up to play in the youth and was great from the first moment."
By the way, Guy Sarfati, Barak Becher's assistant in Haifa, also coached the two in the Maccabi Tel Aviv youth team. In terms of style, he made it clear in internal conversations that these are two completely different players. Kartsev's value could reach at least 2 million euros, while Naor cost the Greens about 2 million shekels. When the club calculated cost versus benefit, it was decided to go for Naor, what's more, they knew he was coming as a rotation player and this price seemed more reasonable for the investment.
The second time Naor's name came up at Maccabi Haifa, he was already a senior player.
The professional manager, Gal Alberman, together with the scouting team at the club, monitored the young midfielder who was called up to the Israel national team for the first time this year.
Alberman has reports on Israeli players in every position on the field. Naor is one of the few who was on the agenda as a midfielder, since the Israeli market is not saturated with players in this position. "Goni has proven himself at Hapoel Jerusalem," said sources familiar with the details of the deal. He will be brought in and he will make the step jump at Maccabi Haifa.
He has the potential to do it."
Naor against Maccabi Tel Aviv. Will he help bring a third championship in a row to Carmel?, Photo: Alan Shiver
"Smart, loved and attentive"
The 23-year-old Naor was a candidate for Maccabi Haifa last summer, after qualifying for the Champions League.
Mahmoud Jaber's injury brought the Greens into negotiations, which were unsuccessful against Hapoel Jerusalem.
Naor himself wanted to come to Haifa, and even stopped coming to the Hapoel Jerusalem training sessions in order not to harm the negotiations, which, as mentioned, fell through.
Among the data Alberman collected about Naor in the report, there are also character data, which, according to Maccabi Haifa officials, "fit well with the social fabric in the locker room." Hapoel Jerusalem also testifies to a player with a comfortable character, one who worked hard to reach the high station to which he moved. Uri Ozan, who coached him in the youth department of Maccabi Tel Aviv, testifies: "Goni is a smart kid, hardworking, loved, attentive, a great trainer, constantly working on himself and improving. Maccabi Haifa gained a real scout boy, who will work for everyone, will improve as he goes , and will do whatever is necessary so that everyone around him will be better. I am happy for him and for his parents, who sacrificed a lot for his sake, that he has reached this moment. No one deserves it."
Bachar
Will he succeed in promoting Naor as well?, Photo: Maor Alxalsi
Goni Naor doesn't have much time to acclimate himself at Maccabi Haifa, and he may be included in the team's squad already for the game on Saturday against Bnei Rayna.
He arrives after the departure of Neta Lavie to Gamba Osaka, but the club clarified that "it is not a replacement for Neta, because the fact is that we tried to transfer him at the beginning of the season when he was still in the team."
For starters, Naor is slated to be a rotation player.
If he proves himself, he could, perhaps, become a leading player in Barak Becher's team.
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