Botafogo Scout Says Club Tried, and Failed, to Sign Eran Zahavi

Botafogo tried to bring Eran Zahavi to Brazil in the summer of 2022, but the Israeli striker ultimately chose to return to Maccabi Tel Aviv. The story was revisited in a Brazilian interview by Rafael Rezende, who was working then as Botafogo’s scout.

Rezende said club owner John Textor strongly wanted the deal. He described the first approach as unusual and noted that Zahavi was then in the Netherlands, where he had just finished his spell at PSV and was scoring at a high rate. "The first move we made was very unconventional, and John really wanted it," Rezende said.

According to Rezende, the club knew Zahavi from his time playing with Carlos Vinicius at PSV, but the attempt did not work out. He added that Botafogo understood the symbolism of signing an Israeli player in Brazil and that Textor was unconcerned about that aspect: "You can imagine what would have happened if we had brought an Israeli player to Brazil, with all that implies. John did not worry about it."

Rezende also said Botafogo considered another high-profile striker, Belgium international Dries Mertens, who had played for Napoli, but that pursuit also failed. He said the club wanted to show the market that a new ownership group was ready to invest in players. Zahavi went on to sign for Maccabi Tel Aviv and stayed there until the final match of his career, winning a sixth championship title.