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Hapoel players on show in Champions League

December 2, 2010 15:50

By

Simon Griver,

Simon Griver

1 min read

Scouts from Europe's top leagues will be in France on Tuesday night for Hapoel Tel Aviv's final Champions League group match against Lyon.

After beating Benfica 3-0 last week, the Israeli champions can still finish third in their group and qualify for the Europa League knockout stage, if they cause an upset while the Portuguese champions must lose against Schalke.

But even if Hapoel progress, a mass exodus is expected when the transfer window opens in January with six players set to leave.

Itay Shechter is still attracting the most attention. Villareal are now the front-runners to sign the Israeli striker and there has also been interest from Chievo and Nurnberg, as well as a long list of Premier League clubs including Everton, Spurs and West Ham. Shechter missed Israel's friendly with Iceland last month due to injury and has only played in 53 per cent of Israel's internationals over the past two years, well short of the 75 per cent needed for a UK work permit.

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