An Israeli website has published a colourful account of Mohammed Abu Fani’s trip to Greece with Maccabi Haifa enjoying a 4-0 win over Olympiakos to progress into the third round of the Champions League qualifiers.
Fanni came off the bench to score the fourth goal for Maccabi with the defeat of the Greek champions handing Celtic a welcome bonus payment when the Champions League cake gets split up.
On the surface it would seem that everyone would be happy with Maccabi edging towards group stage football in one competition or another which should put the player in the spotlight.
With just over a month to go in the transfer window there was drama going on behind the scenes with the Celtic linked midfielder.
Discussing Fani, Israeli site Sport 1 reports:
The midfielder was furious when he realized he would not start against Olympiakos, when the claim around him is that he was asked to stay for the pair of meetings despite an offer he received from a team abroad. The disappointed player and the owner’s right-hand man spoke at the hotel before the game. A representative from the Scottish team was present in the stands.
At the same time as the euphoria of the tremendous victory over Olympiakos , which we are still celebrating today (Thursday) in Maccabi Haifa , it turns out that even before the game in Greece, the club dealt with the issue of Mohammed Abu Fani.
According to sources involved in the details, Abu Fani had a significant offer from a team abroad even before the pair of meetings with Olympiakos, but although he was asked to stay at least until after those two games, in practice the midfielder did not start in the lineup and therefore feelings of anger and disappointment accumulated in him.
It isn’t often that that level of detail is published, next week Maccabi take on Apollon of Cyprus for a place in the Play Off stage of the Champions League.
The signing of Aaron Mooy would seem to have completed Celtic’s midfield options but speaking to Sky Sports last week Ange Postecoglou made it clear that he was still active in the transfer market.
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