Twice failed to reach an agreement with Maccabi Haifa, but now ready for Israel: what has changed for Ukrainian winger Oleksiy Hutsulyak

Back in August 2026, the story of Ukrainian footballer Oleksiy Hutsulyak and Maccabi Haifa seemed almost finished. The Haifa club twice returned to the candidacy of the Ukrainian winger, but the transfer did not take place. At that time, the footballer had several overseas directions, and Israel remained just one of the options.

Author: Elena Gunko

October 6, 2026, the picture is already different.

Israeli Sport5 reported that the 28-year-old Ukrainian national team player is now ready to continue his career in Israel. The main problem has not disappeared: according to the publication, Hutsulyak expects approximately 1.5 million euros net per season and admits that part of the total amount may be arranged as a signing bonus.

For Israeli football, this is a very high financial bar. Therefore, today's news does not yet mean that a contract with Maccabi is close. It means something else: the position of the footballer himself has noticeably changed over the past two months.

In August, NANews thoroughly analyzed the two attempts of Maccabi Haifa to agree with Hutsulyak. At that time, it was important to separate the facts from the beautiful but too simple formula "the Ukrainian…

Read more:
news.nikk.co.il/en/twice-faile…