Maccabi Haifa Pushes to Sign an Attacking Midfielder

Maccabi Haifa is moving ahead with plans to strengthen the attacking midfield position, which the club believes was badly lacking last season. The Greens are trying to add a player who can provide goals and assists behind the striker, while finalizing a separate deal for Dutch-Surinamese defender Radinio Balker from England's Huddersfield for three years and 300,000 euros.

According to the report, Haifa has renewed talks with two candidates it could not sign in January, Karpaty Lviv midfielder Bruninho and Universidad de Chile midfielder Lucas Assadi. Bruninho was previously close to an agreement with Haifa, but the deal collapsed because the clubs could not reach a financial understanding, and his Brazilian club also holds a percentage of any future transfer from Lviv.

Bruninho has previously expressed a desire to move to Israel despite the security situation, and his personal terms had already been arranged, so the club believes the deal could still be completed. Assadi also wanted to join in January, but his club's asking price was too high, and Metalist Kharkiv also tried to sign him.

Since then, Assadi has signed a new contract with Universidad de Chile, and his arrival now depends heavily on what fee the Chileans demand. Haifa is still trying to solve a position it has not properly filled since the departure of Tjaronn Chery two and a half years ago.