Beitar Jerusalem Moves to Sign Maccabi Tel Aviv Winger Uri Azou Ahead of Premier League Season

Beitar Jerusalem is accelerating efforts to strengthen its squad ahead of the Israeli Premier League season by pursuing Maccabi Tel Aviv winger Uri Azou. After completing their European campaign, the Jerusalem club is negotiating with Azou and his current team to finalize a deal. Azou has expressed willingness to join Beitar but is reluctant to go out on another loan, having previously been loaned to Hapoel Ramat HaSharon and M.S. Ashdod. One proposed arrangement involves Beitar purchasing half of Azou's rights while allowing Maccabi Tel Aviv to retain a significant percentage of any future transfer fee, thereby reducing the immediate transfer cost.

Beitar also aims to bolster its midfield by adding a foreign player to complement Boris Enow, Ziv Ben Shimol, Noam Motta, Daniel Vorko, Tomer Yosefi, and Nadav Markovitz, with Markovitz possibly going out on loan once a senior midfielder arrives. A club source told Sport Channel that Azou has untapped potential that only coach Almog Cohen can unlock, citing similar development with players like Ziv Ben Shimol and Yarin Levi. Despite being part of Maccabi Tel Aviv's senior squad for three seasons, Azou has yet to make an official appearance for them, though he played 15 matches and scored twice for Ashdod last season.