PSV will most likely lose Sam Lammers in the final phase of the transfer period. Atalanta is eager to bring the 23 year old attacker to Serie A and the people of Eindhoven have already given permission to the striker to complete the transfer. Meanwhile, technical director John de Jong and trainer Roger Schmidt are looking for an adequate replacement. At the top of the list of possible replacements is the name of Eran Zahavi, a 33 year old striker from Israel. Who is this seasoned but relatively unknown striker and what can he add to the attack game of Schmidt’s formation? It is clear that Zahavi is an optimal player, especially in the smaller leagues.

By Rian Rosendaal

The interest in Zahavi, who is known as a real goalgetter at the Chinese Guangzhou R&F, comes from Schmidt. The German coach of PSV worked at Beijing Guoan between 2017 and 2019 and in that period he built up a pretty good reputation. So his network in China comes in handy for the Eindhoven club in the search for a top shooter, especially now that Lammers is about to sign a multi-year contract in Bergamo. Zahavi would like to work with Schmidt again, which gives PSV an edge over other clubs. He leaves Guangzhou R&F with impressive numbers in goal making: 103 hits in official 117 games. Zahavi seized the top scorer title twice in his four years on Chinese soil. In 2017 he left behind with 27 goals including superstars Ezequiel Lavezzi (21) and Hulk (17). Two years later, in 2019, he scored a total of 29 goals. In this case Graziano Pellè and Yannick Carrasco (both 17) were unable to cope with the scoring drive of the PSV coveted routinier. A real milestone: never before had anyone scored so many goals in the Chinese Super League.

However, Zahavi also knows the other side of the football medal. The 1.81 meter long goalie saw his European dream come true in 2011 with a contract at Palermo. With the entry in the Series A he was finally able to prove himself in a top European competition. However, the Italian dream soon turned into a nightmare. Zahavi barely got around to playing in Sicily, partly due to the necessary injuries, and goals were already a utopia. The collaboration was broken after two disappointing seasons and only two hits. Weeping out and starting again was the motto at the beginning of 2013. Zahavi returned to Israel, where Maccabi Tel Aviv had a contract ready for him. In the smaller Israeli league, the goalie blossomed again, breaking a record in the year 2015/16 as a result. The counter ended at 35 league goals, shooting the legendary Nisim Elmaliah out of the history books. The latter kicked it to thirty hits in the 1954/55 season, a record that subsequently remained untouched for sixty years.

The different statistics between Eran Zahavi and Sam Lammers

In his final phase at Maccabi Tel Aviv, Zahavi had to deal with Peter Bosz as his trainer. The current training master of Bayer Leverkusen was really amazed by the effectiveness of the Israeli. “If Zahavi had played in the Netherlands, he would have been in the Dutch national team and perhaps made a transfer to a top foreign club”, said Bosz four years ago in an interview with Football International. “He’s not just a finisher, he’s someone who creates opportunities. Only the very big ones can do that.” The Dutch coach returned to Ajax a short time later in the Eredivisie and for a moment it seemed that Zahavi would follow him to Amsterdam. His name was mentioned as a possible successor of Arek Milik, who left for Napoli. The Israeli journalist Raphael Gellar at the time had his reservations about the interest from the Johan Cruijff ArenA. “When he leaves, it must be a very big club where he will continue. Moreover, he must feel that he has a lot to play. He’s not going to take a seat on the bench somewhere, if he can stay here in Israel and earn good money”, he said in conversation with Football zone. “I don’t see him going to Ajax either. Maccabi fans would also hate it if Bosz decides to take players away from their club.” They turned out to be prophetic words from Gellar, because Zahavi finally opted for a lucrative contract with Guangzhou R&F in the summer of 2016.

On par with Cristiano Ronaldo
Zahavi also has a lot of admirers on the international stage. The King of YuexiushanAs his nickname at Guangzhou R&F, he scored eleven goals in the most recent round of the European Championships. Only Harry Kane did even better with twelve hits than Israel’s 54-time international, who ended the qualifying cycle with the same number of goals as Cristiano Ronaldo. Compliments came from Austria, one of Israel’s opponents in Group G. The Israeli team won somewhat surprisingly 4-2, although they lost 3-1 in Vienna. Nevertheless, after the meeting at Ernst Happel Stadium, Zahavi were praised for producing the opening goal with a shot that flew into the goal through the post. The Austrian national coach Andreas Herzog thought he was perfect for a top league. “I am convinced of that. He would have a supporting role in many European teams, Eran is an absolute top player”. Austrian goalkeeper Cican Stankovic even used the term “world class” to describe Zahavi. “He shoots with the left, with the right and from all positions. He’s an incredible player who, in my opinion, is far too good to play in China.”

So Zahavi has already proven to be a real finisher, which cannot (yet) be said about Lammers. However, it should be emphasized that the experienced goalgetter is ten years older than his only 23-year old colleague from the Netherlands. Lammers is a physically strong striker who is also pretty good in the air. Those qualifications do not seem to apply to Zahavi, who does show up strongly in other areas. He is known for his good technique in the opponent’s penalty area, while his speed of action also seems to be fine. This is reflected in the statistics of Opta. In the categories ‘ball contacts’, ‘ball contacts in the sixteen-metre area’, ‘shots’ and ‘shots on goal’ he clearly leaves Lammers behind. In other areas, the seasoned striker has to recognise his superior in the striker trained by PSV. In the areas of ‘duels’, ‘won duels’, ‘air duels’ and ‘won air duels’ Lammers clearly comes out on top. The latter acts much more often as a starting point and pinchhitter, while Zahavi always looks for space and tries to stay out of personal duels. “The difference in quality between the defenders in the Chinese Super League and the Eredivisie has to be taken into account”, stresses Opta in response to Football zone. Incidentally, the statistics for both peaks have been converted into averages per ninety minutes of play and cover the period between 2018 and 2020.

Comparison with Klaas-Jan Huntelaar
So Zahavi has already proven himself in smaller leagues, so it is likely that he will prove his worth in the Eredivisie as well. Disadvantage may be that PSV will miss a starting point with the departure of Lammers, someone around whom players like Donyell Malen, Mohamed Ihattaren and Noni Madueke can move. Zahavi seems to be the same kind of player as the three young PSV’ers, given the different analyses and statistics. Against the weaker teams in the Eredivisie it may not be a problem, but against strong and experienced defenders in the Europa League it may be a different story. There’s no lack of motivation from Zahavi, who despite his age (33) is still keen to succeed in Europe. Bosz’s opinion hasn’t changed in four years. The Leverkusen coach even draws the comparison with Klaas-Jan Huntelaar. “He is so stuck in finishing. When he shoots, it’s almost always on target. In that sense he is in mortal danger”, concludes Bosz in conversation with Football International. PSV’s doing a golden catch, it sounds that way. “If he’s gonna play all the games at PSV, I expect him to make at least 25.”

PSV hopes Eran Zahavi will do a lot better than Kostas Mitroglou

PSV had exactly the same situation over a year ago, when Luuk de Jong was picked up by Sevilla and Lammers in the final phase of the summer transfer market due to a severe knee injury and had to rehabilitate for months. In a hurry, Kostas Mitroglou was brought to Eindhoven to take care of the departure of the Dutch national team and the months of absence of Lammers. A resounding success, however, was the cooperation between club and player, despite the fact that the PSV-public applauded him passionately during his first warm-up in the Philips Stadium. His inauguration in the final stages of the playoff game in the Europa League with Apollon Limasol (3-0) tasted like more. Mitroglou turned out to be an excellent starting point, a bit like his predecessor De Jong. In the remainder of his stay in Eindhoven, however, the Greek striker did not make a great impression. The European debut was followed by seventeen more games in the shirt of PSV, with only three goals as a result. The technical leadership of the people of Eindhoven sincerely hopes that history will not repeat itself by attracting Zahavi.