Lee Yam Dan was expected to open training with Maccabi Netanya on Monday alongside players returning from loan, but he instead signed late Sunday with Maccabi Petah Tikva. The young midfielder took advantage of the fact that Netanya did not exercise its option on him, which made him a free agent and left Netanya unable to collect any training compensation or development fee.
Netanya was unhappy with the move, even though its relationship with Petah Tikva is considered good and the clubs have done business before. In the end, they reached a compromise under which Netanya will keep a percentage of any future sale of Dan.
Netanya says it did not plan on Dan as part of next season’s squad. The club is due to train on Monday, when coach Roni Levy and his staff will try to assess young players, some of whom are expected to begin first-team training on Tuesday.