South African Bevan Fransman On The Move - Report

Maccabi Netanya are cutting down their budget and are being forced to sell some of their players, one of whom could be Bevan Fransman, as they bid to operate within the clubs new financial plan.

Fellow Premiership club Hapoel Tel Aviv have already put in an offer that has been turned down by Netanya in their bid to recruit the 25 year-old.

Steve Kapeluschnik, Fransman’s business manager, tells KickOff.com of interest for the former Kaizer Chiefs defender who signed a three-year contract when he joined Netanya.

“There is interest in Bevan from a few European teams and others in Israel. But he still has a contract with Netanya so whoever wants him first has to agree terms with the club.

“Hapoel Tel Aviv are interested and put through an initial offer that was rejected by Netanya. But it is still too early to say much about whether Bevan will leave though the interest is strong,” says Kapeluschnik, who has just returned from Israel. Fransman was a noticeable for his consistency at Netanya in his first season playing 32 games for the club including preliminary round matches in the UEFA Cup.

Kapeluschnik further explains the situation with Israeli League clubs that has prompted widespread belief that clubs there are having financial troubles.

“What happens in Israel is that clubs have a budget they present to the League every season. So this season Bevan’s club wants to cut down that budget which means they will have to find means to operate within that new budget.

“Players with contracts will not have their salaries cut but the club will be forced to sell players and then recruit less expensive players that will not be paid as much as those that have left,” says the Stellar Africa boss.

Netanya have already let go of their other South African player Siyabonga Nkosi who has since joined SuperSport United while German coach Lothar Matthaus has also left being replaced by Nati Azaria for the new season.