Israel U20 World Cup goalkeeper Tomer Tzarfati signed with Kfar Shalem on Tuesday, confirming an exclusive report first published by Sport 5. The move came after late-night contact with Hapoel Petah Tikva, but the club eventually backed away once it learned Kfar Shalem had already finalized terms with the player.
In recent days, Hapoel Petah Tikva held marathon meetings over which goalkeeper would compete this season with Omer Katz. The final two candidates were Roy Sasson, who played for Kfar Shalem last season, and Tzarfati, who belongs to Maccabi Netanya and also featured at the U20 World Cup. Petah Tikva preferred Tzarfati not only for professional reasons, but also because his age would have helped the club meet its quota of under-23 players, a move that could have qualified it for special Sports Ministry financial grants.
Between Wednesday night and Thursday morning, Tzarfati and his representatives received formal approaches from Petah Tikva, and during the pressure of those talks he was promised a fair battle with Katz for the starting shirt. By morning, however, Petah Tikva learned that Kfar Shalem had chosen Tzarfati as its first-choice goalkeeper and had already reached contractual and financial terms with his agent, Avi Nimo, who was then in Zagreb with his client Dor Peretz.
The connection between Kfar Shalem and coach Omer Peretz also proved decisive. Peretz previously coached the club in several spells, helped it win promotion from Liga Alef, and later went down with it from the National League. He remains on excellent terms with club officials Avichai Yihia and Eitan Aharon. After Nimo entered the picture, Petah Tikva formally announced it was withdrawing. A club source said, "Once we understood that Kfar Shalem had sat down and agreed with Tomer Tzarfati, we dropped it. Until it was published, we did not know. Tomer is an excellent goalkeeper and we wish him success at Kfar Shalem."
