Eran Zahavi will leave Maccabi Tel Aviv this summer after a total of 7 seasons that have seen him become one of the club’s greatest-ever players. The 37-year old returned from Palermo in 2013 and at Maccabi was able to become a 4-time League, 1 State Cup, 3-time Toto Cup and 2 Super Cup winner as well as making appearances in the group stages of Champions, Europa and Conference Leagues during one of the best eras of the club.

There is no other player more synonymous with the incredible successes achieved in that time and with 205 goals in 312 appearances to his name. Zahavi’s achievements in yellow-and-blue are unrivaled throughout the club’s history.

Zahavi will be celebrated at his final game with Maccabi at Bloomfield Stadium on Saturday May 24th against Beitar Jerusalem, where the supporters will have the opportunity to bid farewell to one of the best goal scorers Israel has ever seen.

Maccabi’s Owner, Mitch Goldhar, said, “Eran is unique. He is a special player and an even more special person which is a testament his professionalism, dedication and talent that has seen him rise to the top of the game. He holds a place in the hearts of everyone connected to Maccabi Tel Aviv and he certainly has my deepest respect and affection. I have shared many moments with Eran, the ups and downs and consider him a friend. We after all share the same birthday. I still remember vividly discussing and agreeing his terms to come back from Italy. We all witnessed how he thrived at Maccabi and the achievements that followed. I am appreciative for everything he has given to this Club. On behalf of everyone at Maccabi Tel Aviv, I wish Eran and his family the very best for the future and I know our supporters will join us in giving him the send-off he deserves at the end of this season. There is still a lot to do and all of us now need to maintain our focus and energy to win the Championship.”

Zahavi began his youth career with Hapoel Tel Aviv and made his Premier League debut in 2006 for the Reds. He was then loaned out to Ironi Ramat HaSharon for the 2007-08 season and returned to Hapoel the following year. In 2009–10, Zahavi helped Hapoel win a double, claiming the State Cup after a 3–1 victory over Bnei Yehuda. The championship was won after a dramatic game against Beitar Jerusalem on the final day of the season, with Zahavi scoring the title-winning goal two minutes into injury time. The following season Zahavi was instrumental in helping the Reds reach the group stages of the Champions League for the first time, but failed to advance to the next round.

From there it was off to Italy for a frustrating season and a half at Palermo in Serie A where Zahavi played in 23 games and scored only two goals. But in January 2013 during the winter transfer window the Zahavi would move back to Israel and sign with Maccabi Tel Aviv where his career took off and changed the face of the club and country’s landscape.

After winning the 2013 league championship under Oscar Garcia, Paulo Sousa was appointed as the yellow-and-blue’s head coach for Zahavi’s first full season with the club in 2013-14 and began to mold him into the superstar he would become. Zahavi made his mark in the derby against his former team Hapoel by scoring a dramatic late winner and led the club to its second league title in a row.

In 2014-15 Maccabi, now under the tutelage of head coach Pako Ayestaran went on to win the prestigious Treble by capturing the league title, the State Cup and Toto Cup with Zahavi leading the way. The yellow-and-blue qualified for the 2015-2016 Champions League group stages as Zahavi once again was on center stage.

In the qualifying phase under new head coach Slavisa Jokanovic, Zahavi was a one man show as he scored two goals against Czech side Viktoria Plzeň in a 2-0 away victory in the second leg of the third qualifying round after having lost at home 2–1 to advance to the playoff round of the Champions League where they faced Basel from Switzerland.

In the first leg, Zahavi scored a brace, including perhaps his most famous goal of all-time with Maccabi as he left in the air and headed a Dor Micha cross into the back of the net in the 96th-minute to draw 2-2 draw at St. Jakob-Park. The following week in the second leg at Bloomfield, he scored a 24th-minute equaliser as the match ended 1–1, a result that sent Maccabi to the Champions League group stage due to the away goals rule. Zahavi finished the Champions League qualifying phase and play-off round as the top goalscorer with 7 goals in 5 games.

During the season Zahavi scored 35 league goals, in 36 league games and set a new Israeli record for league goals in single season. All in all Zahavi played in 119 matches and scored 98 goals during his first stint with Maccabi.

Next it was off to China and Guangzhou for four seasons (2016-2020) where he scored 91 goals in 106 appearances and from there Zahavi joined PSV Eindhoven for two years where he scored 22 goals in 50 games. In July of 2022, Zahavi rejoined Maccabi for his second stint with the club where to date he has scored 40 goals in 67 appearances for the yellow-and-blue. Since returning to Israel, Zahavi helped win the league title last season as well as having advanced to the UEFA Europa Conference League Round of 16 while this season the club appeared in the Europa League group stages.

The Rishon Le’Zion native also has scored 35 goals in 74 matches with the Israel National Team.

At this point it is unknown whether Zahavi will continue his career in Israel, abroad or hang up his cleats and retie.