23/7/2013 : Katan signs new 3 year deal at Haifa where he will end his career

Football:
Maccabi Haifa's legendary striker Yaniv Katan has signed a new 3 year deal with the club that he has only been away from for half a year since the age of 8. " I am happy and proud to play for this team for the next 3 years" said Katan after signing the contract, " I have been at this club almost 25 years, since the age of 8, and its not just a team to me, it's a home. My wish is to end my career at Haifa".

Yaniv Katan (fifa)

The Israeli who has played a staggering 425 times for Haifa was first found by the club when he was just 8 years old and immediately started rising up the ranks. In 1998 when he was just 17 years of age Katan was got first call-up to the senior team and from their onwards he never looked back. He notched up 223 appearances for The Greens in his first spell their that ended in January 2005 when he signed for West Ham United in the English Premier League on a 4 year contract with West Ham paying just 800,000 NIS to Haifa as a transfer fee. Katan played for The Hammers just 6 time without scoring and at the end of the 05/06 season decided to return to Haifa on a year long loan deal with the option of re-signing at the end of the season. He finished that loan season 27 matches and 7 goals to his name and decided to re-sign for the northern club. Katan has played 175 times since then at now captains the team. The 32-year-old also got 32 international caps for Israel between the years 200 and 2010.
Haifa play on Thursday against Khazar Lankaran in the 2nd leg of their Europa League 2nd qualifying round tie in which Haifa lead 2-0. Katan is expected to be in the squad for the game.

Pre-Season Friendly Results:
Hapoel Be'er Sheva 3 - 2 Pogoń Szczecin