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 winger Uri Azou from Maccabi Tel Aviv. The club aims to bolster its midfield with a foreign player to complement Boris Innui, Ziv Ben Shimol, Noam Motta, Daniel Vorko, Tomer Yosefi, and Nadav Markovitz, the latter of whom may be loaned out if a senior midfielder joins. Concurrently, Beitar is negotiating with Azou and Maccabi Tel Aviv to finalize a deal. Azou has expressed willingness to move to Jerusalem but prefers a permanent transfer rather than another loan, as he experienced with Hapoel Ramat HaSharon and M.S. Ashdod.

Azou has not played any official matches for Maccabi Tel Aviv this season, signaling the club's intent to move him on. One proposed arrangement is for Beitar to purchase 50% of Azou's rights while allowing Maccabi to retain a significant share of any future transfer fees, reducing the immediate transfer cost. A Beitar source told Sport Channel that Azou has untapped potential that only coach Almog Cohen can unlock, as he did with players like Ziv Ben Shimol and Yarin Levi. This will be Azou's third season officially on Maccabi Tel Aviv's senior roster, yet he has never made an official appearance for the team. Last season, he played 15 games for Ashdod, scoring twice.