Maccabi Tel Aviv Steps Up Efforts to Sign Cyprus National Team Defender

3.7.2026 / 17:00

Compromise? Cup holders in talks with Widzew Lodz to sign Cypriot Stelios Andreou - either immediate purchase or loan with option. The defender expressed willingness to come to Israel

The new Maccabi Tel Aviv kits for the 2026/27 season/Kobi Eliyahu

Maccabi Tel Aviv is in talks to sign Cypriot defender Stelios Andreou. The club maintains contact with agents of several candidates for the defender role, and it is possible that more than one defender will be needed after Heitor has already departed for Ujpest.

Andreou, who will turn 24 this month, could join Maccabi Tel Aviv on a loan deal with an option to buy or as an immediate purchase. The two options carry different prices. The sides are still negotiating the structure of the deal with Widzew Lodz. Andreou is currently with his Polish club on a training camp in Austria. If the transfer materializes, he will receive a higher salary than the one due to him next season in Poland, where he is under a long-term contract.

Maccabi Tel Aviv preferred a left-footed defender, but it is possible the club will ultimately add more than one player in the position. Andreou previously played four years with Charleroi in Belgium, was mentioned as a Maccabi Tel Aviv target already two years ago, and was acquired by Widzew Lodz last summer. Unlike other foreign players who prefer not to come to Israel at this time, he has expressed principled agreement to make the move.

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At one point shifted to right-back. Stelios Andreou in Widzew Lodz colors/GettyImages, Eurasia Sport Images

Andreou has already earned 30 caps for the Cyprus national team, scoring one goal. He grew up at Omonia Nicosia, began his senior career at Olympiakos Nicosia, and in the summer of 2021 was purchased by Charleroi for 265 thousand euros. At the Belgian club he played 126 matches across all competitions, scoring three goals, providing three assists and receiving one red card.

Widzew Lodz bought him for 1.3 million euros last summer as part of a squad overhaul, yet he failed to settle and managed only 18 league appearances plus four in the cup. At one stage he was deployed solely as a right-back after the team struggled near the bottom of the table and signed new defenders in the winter window.

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