AFR Scouting: Maccabi Haifa’s Eyal Golasa

By Dominic Vieira

Israel may not be a dominant nation in the world of football, nor has it produced too many world-class players. But one of the world’s most talented youngsters plays for current Israeli champions Maccabi Haifa, the club which he signed for in 2008. His name is Eyal Golasa and he is 18 years old. Eyal may not be widely renowned as football top future stars, but the wonderkid has been rapidly improving and developing since his debut in 2008. At the of 14, young Eyal Golasa underwent trials at Tottenham Hotspur and PSG; he was due to move to the French side but the deal failed because he was unable to be granted European citizenship. The Israeli starlet has recently appeared in the papers often as he was set to join Lazio during the winter transfer window. A four and a half year contract was agreed and all that remained was for the player to sign it. However, Eyal changed his mind on the last minute and opted to continue playing in the Israeli Premier League.

Eyal Golasa is a skilful, modern versatile midfielder who is most comfortable playing an attacking midfielder role; he also can play as a winger or a central midfielder. He has similar characteristics to Barcelona boys Xavi and Iniesta, as well as Mezut Ozil. He has very good touch on the ball, the ability to use both feet, has a great vision and is a great dribbler. He enjoys making fast offensive bursts in the final 3^rd of the pitch and has an eye for the goal. He frequently tries scoring long distance goals, but his accuracy and power have to be heavily refined before he will become a deadly long range striker on the ball. In recent times, he has been improving his finishing attributes and Maccabi has already benefitted from his vital goals. In order for Eyal Golasa to develop into a solid, elegant, all round midfielder, he needs to improve on his strength and fitness; this will then allow him to enter the football elite. Moving to a big club directly may not be the best idea, but playing in the Dutch, French or Portuguese league for a couple of seasons is the perfect bridge to prepare for him for Europe’s biggest leagues.

The future looks bright for Eyal Golasa; sooner or later, like any ambitious talented young football star, he will want to make a move to a bigger and competitive league. This move will also be done because the player will want to further develop as a footballer and achieve new challenges at a large scale. During the Champions League, Maccabi played against Bayern Munich and in the game which Bayern won 3-0; Eyal made a name for him and impressed the Bavarian coaches and scout. Bayern Munich has been closely monitoring him and rumoured to be interested in signing the star. Also in Germany, Bayer Leverkusen have claimed been interested in him as well as other clubs. In England, Isreali Portsmouth manager Avram Grant is chasing the attacking midfielder. Along with the interest from Lazio, numerous Italian clubs are looking at him. There will be many offers coming in for the attacking midfielder but Italy or Germany will be the most likely destinations. It won’t take long until Eyal Golasa becomes a key figure in the Israeli national team and maybe one day we will be able to see him guide his country to a major international tournament. Golasa recently completed his first cap for Israel and there will be many more to follow.

Feel free to ask your questions or post your comments below! What do you think of the rising Israeli star?