Abd Elhamed closing in on dream move to Celtic
FOOTBALL Hapoel Beer Sheva fullback Hatem Abd Elhamed has agreed a two-year deal with Celtic subject to passing a medical and receipt of a work permit.
The Bhoys will pay Beer Sheva a £1.6 million transfer fee. Elhamed, 28, was born in the Galilee Arab village of Kafr Manda and as a schoolboy he rose through the ranks of Bnei Sakhnin before joining Maccabi Tel Aviv. He joined Ashdod and was loaned to Charleroi and Gent in Belgium and Dinamo Bucarest before joining Beer Sheva last year.
Elhamed will link up with fellow Israeli midfielder Nir Bitton at Celtic. One of his first games could be against Maccabi Tel Aviv next month in the Champions
League third qualifying round, if the Israeli champions can beat Romania’s Cluj and Celtic can overcome Nomme Kaliju of Estonia. Tomer Hemed could be set for a surprise Premier League return next month after he was handed a 12-month contract extension by Brighton.
Hemed, 32, has been playing a key role in Brighton’s pre-season friendly matches but it remains unclear whether he will still be at the club for the 2019/20 season, or loaned out.
After joining Brighton in 2015 and helping the team gain promotion to the Premier League in 2017, Hemed fell out of favour with manager Chris Hughton last season and was loaned out to QPR. Plagued by injury, Hemed managed only seven goals in 27 games in the Championship last season but scored twice in QPR’s 4-0 win over Swansea in April. It was a display that clearly impressed the Swans manager Graham Potter who was appointed Brighton boss the following month, replacing Hughton.