Celtic supporters would welcome an Israeli player signing for the club but would the player want to come to Celtic?
Celtic were linked with yet another goalkeeper at the weekend, this time a loan move for Bayern Munich’s Daniel Peretz. The 23 year old Israeli international is back up to Manuel Neuer, but has already amassed 103 games in the top flight of his homeland, whilst also winning two full caps for his nation. So he clearly has talent and a bright future in the game.
Like most of you, I haven’t seen Daniel Peretz in action, but if he’s on the books at Bayern he must be decent.
Is he the man to replace Joe Hart though? That’s debatable for so many reasons, some to do with football and others surrounding the wider issues beyond the game. There is also the thoughts of the player himself, who of course might not even consider a move to Glasgow, given the backlash he’s receive from the far rightwing Israel press.
Not because of the status of our domestic game in the eyes of many folk in the game (last week it was the Denmark manager who was talking down the Scottish game), but things beyond his control off the park. We all know the debacle surrounding Liel Abada, who had to leave Celtic through unfair pressure and threats from certain individuals in his homeland.
There was clearly a campaign in the media to get Abada to leave Celtic after the Green Brigade’s support for the people of Palestine.
Celtic supporters were apparently the reason according to certain misinformed members of the media, both here in Scotland and more significantly over in Israel. It’s worth re-stating that from the moment he signed until his move to the United States, Liel Abada was well liked and supported by the entire Celtic fanbase.
It was fake news propaganda for the Israeli press to report otherwise yet our club refused to defend the good name of our supporters. Something that still irritates the majority of us.
Abada was happy at Celtic and had just signed a new long term contract. The Israeli media forced him into a move by distorting the facts and piling pressure on the young winger. He asked for a move and in the circumstances Celtic accepted that it was the right thing to do.
I can tell you right now that the Celtic supporters, myself included would welcome the young Israeli goalkeeper with open arms if he joined the club. We are a club open to all.
However if Celtic do make a move to sign him – which would appear to be highly unlikely – it’s down to the player himself if he sees a move to Celtic as something he wants to go, given what happened with Liel Abada.
He could believe the lies in the Israeli media and that would put him off, or he could investigate for himself and while discovering that he’d be most welcome at Celtic Park, he’d also discover that the pressure that was put on Abada would be applied to him. That’s the biggest obstacle, not the supporters.
Just an Ordinary Bhoy
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My advice to Celtic, for what it’s worth, is to stay well clear of Israeli players. Israel is a political hotbed whose leaders and media use every means to influence Israeli footballers around the world, often causing them to become unsettled. The best things for clubs around Europe who value team stability is not to recruit Israeli’s. We all witnessed the Liel Abada situation at Celtic and it was not nice.