SPORTS Israeli champion might land in Italian Serie A

By Adam Smulevich

Israeli soccer players in Italy have never been very successful. The first one was supposed to be Ronny Rosenthal, a very talented player: his transfer to Udinese in 1989 was officially cancled for physical problems, but the thing most associated with that unfortunate experience is the open anti-Semitism of some of the local fans expressed through threatening graffiti.

Two of his colleagues have then tasted the Serie A: Tal Banin, a good midfielder who played for three seasons at Brescia (1997-2000), andd Eran Zahavi, a striker, who played a season in Palermo (2011-2012) but not kept up with all the expectations of his supporters (he now is playing in China, where he scores and earns a lot).

Now could be the time for a new arrival. There is in fact an ongoing conversation about 24-year-old striker Shon Weissman, who is currently playing for the Austrian team Wolfsberger and might move to the AS Roma team.

Before soccer stopped due to Coronavirus he had scored twenty-two goals in twenty-one matches. The number brought him to the top of the European Golden Shoe, an award that is presented each season to the leading goalscorer in league matches from the top division of every European national league.

He is currently just behind Romelu Lukaku and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and in front of two other champions like Sergio Aguero and Mohammed Salah.

The management of “Giallorossi” seems to be thinking about it, also remembering the impact left by Shon during the Europa League match of last autumn between Rome and Wolfsberger when he scored a crucial goal with a very nice header on a cross from the left.