Pinhas "Pini" Zahavi is an Israeli football agent.
21 Facts About Pini Zahavi
1.
2.
Pini Zahavi was born in Ness Ziona, Israel in 1955, to a family of Jewish background.
3.
Pini Zahavi is the son of a shopkeeper who sold building materials to local tradesmen.
4.
Pini Zahavi is the great uncle of footballer Alex Zahavi.
5.
Pini Zahavi began a career as a football journalist after dropping out of university.
6.
Pini Zahavi worked for the Israeli newspapers Hadashot Hasport, Yedioth Ahronoth and Hadashot.
7.
Pini Zahavi negotiated his first deal in 1979, the transfer of Israeli defender Avi Cohen from Maccabi Tel Aviv to Liverpool.
8.
Pini Zahavi gave up his job as a journalist in 1998 and negotiated his second deal the following year.
9.
Pini Zahavi, who travelled to England regularly to watch football, recommended Cohen to Liverpool when he saw Peter Robinson, the then secretary of the club, at Heathrow airport during a flight delay caused by fog.
10.
Pini Zahavi was paid an introduction fee for his part in the deal.
11.
In 1990, Pini Zahavi negotiated the transfer of another Israeli player, forward Ronnie Rosenthal, from Standard Liege to Liverpool.
12.
Pini Zahavi's friendships included not just Graeme Souness and Dalglish, but Terry Venables, Ron Atkinson and Alex Ferguson, as well as many more among the next generation of managers and players.
13.
In 1997, Pini Zahavi negotiated the transfer of Israeli midfielder Eyal Berkovic from Southampton to West Ham United.
14.
In 2003, Pini Zahavi played an important and central role in Roman Abramovich's acquisition of Chelsea and in the influx of players that followed.
15.
In 1998, Pini Zahavi had been introduced to Abramovich in Moscow by a mutual friend and so was able to provide an introduction when he was approached by Trevor Birch, the chief executive of the heavily indebted Chelsea, who were on the verge of being unable to pay their players' wages.
16.
In 2005, The Football Association recommended that Pini Zahavi be investigated by the responsible bodies for his part in the "tapping-up" of the Arsenal left back Ashley Cole, who was approached by Chelsea in contravention of Premier League regulations.
17.
Pini Zahavi maintained his innocence of any wrongdoing, claiming that "at that time I did not represent Chelsea or Ashley Cole".
18.
Pini Zahavi denied that the meetings were an attempt to pressure Manchester United into improving their offered contract to Ferdinand.
19.
Pini Zahavi became associated with Portsmouth under the ownership of Milan Mandaric.
20.
Pini Zahavi worked on the signings of Eyal Berkovic and Yakubu from Maccabi Haifa, owned by Zahavi's school friend Ya'akov Shahar, in April 2003 and was involved in the recruitment of Collins Mbesuma in August 2005.
21.
Pini Zahavi holds a share of HAZ Racing Team, one of the top motorsport teams in Argentina.