Maccabi Tel Aviv Weighs Reunion With Eli Dasa

After moving close to signing Dor Peretz, Maccabi Tel Aviv is now seriously considering another former player, right back Eli Dasa. Club officials are openly discussing bringing back the defender, who left in the summer of 2019 after winning the championship under Vladimir Ivic in the Serbian coach’s first season at the club.

Dasa has spent the past seven years playing abroad, in the Netherlands and Russia, and has recently been weighing his future after receiving offers. Maccabi did not plan for him at the start of the summer, but in the past week the possibility was raised in internal talks with professional director Steven Van Haeren and is now under serious consideration. The club may try to lure him back with a large, significant contract.

The 33-year-old just completed a strong season with NEC Nijmegen in the Netherlands, where he played as the right-sided central defender in a three-center-back system before becoming a free agent. He is also Israel’s national team captain, and Ran Ben Shimon sees him in a major role in the Euro 2028 qualifiers and, before that, in September’s Nations League matches.

Maccabi’s interest is not only about his form. The club is looking for more leaders, more dominant players in the locker room, and more people who can help restore the league title. Dasa has said in the past that he is not in a hurry to return to Israel, but a good offer and a long-term deal could change his mind.