Saturday’s clash between Vitesse Arnhem and PSV Eindhoven was not only the most intriguing fixture of the Eredivisie weekend. It also saw a player Neil Lennon tried to sign at Celtic go head-to-head with another who caught the eye of the former Hoops boss.
“Eran Zahavi was one (I tried to sign). I really liked him,” Lennon said back in October ahead of Scotland’s penalty shoot-out victory over Israel in World Cup qualifying (Daily Record).
“He is a good striker, an icon, influences the other members of the team. But we never managed to reach an agreement with him.
“And I like (Israel’s) right-back Eli Dasa.”
It’s fair to say Zahavi will look back on PSV’s trip to the Gelredome with far more fondness than opposition full-back Dasa.
Back in the starting XI for the first time since November after a knee injury, Zahavi tapped home the opener following a mazy Noni Madueke assist.
That was his ninth of the season and PSV’s first of a five-star showing. Dasa’s Vitesse meanwhile, have now lost four games in a row, by an aggregate score of 16-1.
Should Celtic be back in for Eran Zahavi?
Dasa, like Zahavi, will be a free-agent in July.
And, despite the contrasting form of their respective sides, both players are bound to have plenty of offers on the table when the summer rolls around.
Dasa is one of the Eredivisie’s finest full-backs, energetic, versatile and blessed with pinpoint crossing ability.
Zahavi, meanwhile, may be 34 years of age but his goalscoring instincts remain as sharp as ever.
“It is indeed true (I have offers to leave PSV),” the veteran forward admitted after PSV’s thumping 5-0 win.
Zahavi turned down a January move to Olympiakos. But, while the former Maccabi Tel Aviv and Guangzhou R&F talisman is committed to PSV’s cause for the time being, it would be a surprise if he’s still leading the line in 2022/23.
According to Israeli publication YNet, Zahavi wants to leave the Netherlands for personal reasons.
“We decided together that I would finish the season in Eindhoven. It’s good to finish what we started together,” Zahavi adds, sounding very much like someone looking to sign off with silverware before his contract expires.
Could Zahavi fit a Postecoglou team?
Whether Celtic come calling again, with Neil Lennon’s second spell at the helm now a distant and rather horrifying memory, remains to be seen.
Zahavi is not exactly the typical Ange Postecoglou signing. He’s over 30 for a start. Adapting to the Aussie’s famously hard-running tactics may be easier said than done.
But his supreme technical ability and a penchant for creating something out of very little may tempt Postecoglou to pick up where Lennon left off.
Zahavi, after all, leads the line in a manner similar to that of Kyogo Furuhashi. A mercurial ‘false nine’ capable of creating or taking chances, dovetailing beautifully with his team-mates, dropping into midfield while opening up spaces in a deep-lying defence with his intelligent movement.
That’s not all.
Throughout his career, Zahavi has scored nearly 350 goals for club and country, thriving in competitions similar in strength to the Scottish Premiership. And though he’s in his mid-30s these days, there’s been no discernible drop off in Zahavi’s performances this term.
If Postecoglou is willing to break from tradition for one player, maybe it should be Zahavi.
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