Maccabi Tel Aviv captain and midfielder Dor Peretz has ended weeks of speculation about his future by signing a new contract with the club on Thursday. The deal runs for three seasons and includes an option for two additional years. Peretz is expected to join team training immediately, either later today or by Friday, according to an initial report by ynet.
The agreement came just days after Maccabi Tel Aviv upgraded its original offer from late last season. The breakthrough followed a meeting on Wednesday night between Peretz and club representatives, where the financial and professional terms were finalized. Under the new deal, Peretz will earn a base salary of about 500,000 euros per season, with bonuses that could raise the total by another 150,000 euros.
The contract length is unusually long for a player of his age. By comparison, Peretz earned about 550,000 euros last season, of which roughly 50,000 euros came from various bonus clauses.
Maccabi accelerated talks partly because Peretz had a concrete offer from Dinamo Zagreb, and his representatives even traveled to Croatia. People close to the player stressed that the trip was not meant as pressure on the club and that his first choice was always to stay at Kiryat Shalom, with Europe considered only as a fallback. The club ultimately moved to close the gap after realizing the Israeli market offers few strong alternatives, amid concerns over possible departures of other key players and fan pressure to keep the captain at home.
