Eran Zahavi has a special game scheduled for Thursday in the Conference League. The 34-year-old striker will compete with PSV against Maccabi Tel Aviv, the club he won the title in 2015 with a goal in the championship match. Zahavi hopes to return to Maccabi again, the Israeli indicates at a salient moment in conversation with The Telegraph†
Zahavi says he has warm feelings for his former employer, for which he scored 122 times in 157 games, and therefore hopes for a return. Nevertheless, he is fully focused on performing with PSV on Thursday. “They will understand at Maccabi that I have to do my job as a professional, but I will not cheer if I score. I am too grateful to the club for that. It gave me the opportunity to grow into a top player.”
After months of rehabilitation from an ankle injury, Zahavi is fully fit again. During the winter break, the Israeli alluded to a departure from PSV. He was able to go to Olympiacos, but in consultation with his family he chose a longer stay in the Netherlands. “That would be a great step for my own career,” said the attacker in conversation with The Telegraph† “But we discuss everything together and the happiness of my family comes first. That didn’t feel so comfortable in the Netherlands for a while. But as a family we are strong and we decided to fight against that uncomfortable feeling.” Zahavi’s family was successively victim of a home robbery and a home burglary in the Netherlands.
At PSV, Zahavi hopes to win at least one more prize this season, after the Johan Cruijff Scale was won early in the season. The seventy-time international has an expiring contract and seems to be leaving Eindhoven in the summer. Roger Schmidt, the trainer who brought him to PSV, has also announced his retirement from the club. “But I’ve never played for a coach, but for myself and for the team,” says Zahavi.