Note: Some articles in the press and elsewhere spell his name as “Biram Kayal” rather than “Beram Kayal”. The latter is what he & the club use, so we use that here.
Personal
Fullname: Beram Kayal
aka: Biram Kayal, The Sultan
Born: 2 May 1988
Birthplace: Jadeidi, Israel
Signed: 29 July 2010
Left: 23 January 2015 (to Brighton & Hove Albion)
Position: Midfielder, Central/Attacking
Debut: Celtic 2-0 Utrecht, UEFA Cup, 19 Aug 2010
Squad No.: 33
Internationals: Israel
International Caps: 21 [May 2012, update at end of career]
International Goals: 1 [May 2012, update at end of career]
Biog
Beram Kayal joined Celtic in 2010, and became the club’s first player of Arab-Israeli/Palestinian descent. Previous players from Israel had played for Celtic, but not of Arab descent.
Despite not being a particularly hyped or well known transfer, Beram Kayal hit the road running, and from the off became a favoured player in the side. He instantly won over the Celtic fans with a blinding performance and a MOTM award on his debut against F.C Utrecht (2-0 victory) in a Europa League qualifier. It heralded a welcome new talent, only for Celtic to mess it all up in the return leg and get knocked out early from the tournament.
After only a few appearances, he was laid off for a large portion of the season with an injury in training, but made his full return on 2nd January against Rangers at Ibrox, stepping in to replace the suspended Scott Brown. Once again he impressed, although not able to show the flashier, slicker part of his game, he annoyed the hell out of Rangers with his constant tracking and snapping at the heels of the Rangers men. He ran the midfield show and never stopped running. He was denied a coveted MOTM award only by the two-goal hero on the day, Georgios Samaras.
As happens after a great debut set of matches, the hyperbole gets going. There were stories floating about that Man Utd and others down south were now tracking his case, and there was some truth to it with one rumour of a possible £8m transfer bid to come from Man Utd. He was a precocious talent but it was early days.
He was a midfielder with a bit of everything, very quick and agile but also a firm tackler (although culpable for too many unnecessary yellow cards too) and was armed with a good long-range pass. A credited long-term fixture in the Celtic squad and one to watch out for. One of Lennon’s real early-season transfer steals it seemed.
Despite the praise, it wasn’t until April 12th that Kayal scored his first Celtic goal, struck in a 1-0 victory away at St Johnstone, and then on May 1st he finally scored his first goal at Celtic Park with a wonder strike in a 4-1 win over Dundee United. Great moments for him but highlighted a flaw to his game. He may have been industrious in midfield yet he didn’t supply enough in terms of goal returns. Midfielders need to chip in with goals to assist, and he didn’t have many excuses. It needed working on but there were to this point far more positives than negatives.
However, it all soon went wrong and nobody could easily explain the decline.
Kayal had a poor start to season 2011-12. Despite captaining the side on occasion with Scott Brown on the injury sidelines, off-field contract talks were taking place with his agent and these seemed to influence his then declining performances. He, along with the team, were off form and this produced some sub-standard results. Then after a new deal was agreed around October, he returned to his old self, and to sympathisers it was no coincidence that results for the club began to improve during this period as well.
Disaster then struck. During a 1-0 victory over Rangers on 28th December 2011, Kayal was injured in a 50/50 tackle with the unpopular thuggish player Lee McCulloch. Some put full blame on McCulloch, Kayal even himself later pinned some blame onto him stating:
“The injury didn’t look that bad but I believe he did it on purpose. That player is not the cleanest in the world. I have not forgotten that for a moment. I was out for a long time and even when I came back I was not 100 per cent. He was very rude about it. I suppose it’s part of football but I’m happy that every time I’ve played against him since I have beaten him.”
The injury kept him out of action until the very last day of the season, where he was welcomed back to a round of applause when he came on as a sub for captain Scott Brown. It was a write-off of a season for him, and his development was back at square one.
From there on in, he struggled to recover his best form and was overshadowed by other midfielders in the squad (which was itself very overcrowded with performing players). Others seemed more pliable to fit into other positions too, something that could be a dilemma for Kayal. Very good in the central roles, but not fitting for the wings or defence.
Most of the support seemed to be losing patience with him, and increasingly fewer were noticing his absence when out the side. Not a good position to be in, and likely demotivating. He ended up not even featuring in the first team or squad much more. It was back to square one again.
The departure of Victor Wanyama, who had overtaken Kayal in the pecking order during his injury lay-off, seemed to open the door for Kayal to make a return. Early performances throughout the season were solid but unspectacular. The match that seemed to turn things around was the Champions League match v Ajax in 2013, where given the chance he took it with both hands. He played his heart out and scored the winning goal (albeit via a deflection) and made numerous vital tackles. He was all over the field. He was exceptional, and for the first time we could identify a defining match for him where he was undeniably the top man. For once he truly deserved all the universal praise that came his way.
Again it was to be a false dawn, with his best form never really replicated thereafter and injuries were recurring to dent any runs. A bad leg injury in a following game v AC Milan put him out of action again for a long while. It was a no-win situation and the inevitable was obvious to everyone, but nobody took any satisfaction from it. We really wanted him to succeed as he was well liked personally. The successful introduction of Stefan Johansen to the squad didn’t bode well for Kayal, who had become a bench warmer. Despite any poor luck and self-pity he was to mostly blame for his own predicament. His loss of form was more due to himself and not the coaches, and he did not appear to be working on his shortcomings in the game.
Some were looking back now and referring that despite the willingness to go in for a hard (and often rash) challenge, he had little heart. Examples being brought up included ducking instead of taking the impact of a shot (such as against Athletico) and having dropped his head in games like the 3-3 draw with Kilmarnock which almost saw Lennon close to being out of work after Celtic were 3-0 down at one point, many stating that Kayal had bottled the challenge (the team being saved by Stokes). Much of this was harsh, and really there were counter-examples that could easily be found that showed his willingness to try, just that both sides did have a point.
He was to leave with disappointment and some sympathy from the fans, many of whom did like him and appreciated his general efforts. The sad story is that after the initial lofty expectations he’d not even managed to put the key in let alone open the door to great success. Not the first or last that this will ever happen to but he had managed to still win league winners medals and play in the Champions League.
A clean break was for the best but it’s a case of what if? In one interview he blamed the injuries and had a swipe at the league, bemoaning his earlier chances where he reiterated the claims that Liverpool and Manchester United were interested in him at one point, and so on. Part of the outburst was likely due to frustration at how things had panned out from initially being lauded to later not even to be a first team pick.
Maybe he could have looked closer to home for his failings. The injuries were a cause but also a convenient excuse. The early good form was probably more a purple patch rather than the norm. His declining form had actually begun months before the spate of injuries, and he could have worked further to develop his talent. He was not providing a fair return in goals, with only a paltry three goals in his whole time at Celtic. The early good press and the stories had all just gone to his head and the comedown was unpleasant.
In fairness, apart from one whining interview, he never seemed to show much of a negative attitude. On the field in his last days, and on those occasions he was picked to play, he played well. In the title celebrations, he joined in and was as happy as Larry. He did seem to appreciate being at the club.
Under new manager, Ronnie Deila, he was little used in the first team, and Kayal chose to leave at the first chance he got in the January 2015 window to Brighton, a far cry away from the heady heights of the premier sides in Europe. Ironically, the Sultan (as he was dubbed) was leaving on the day that the Sultan of Saudi Arabia had just died.
He signed off on a good note via Social Media (or ghost scripted if you want):
“I would like to thank the Celtic fans for the tremendous support they gave me throughout my time with the club.
“They are amazing fans, committed to the team and they were incredibly supportive to me all through my time in Glasgow.
“Coming to a new country, that support was huge for me and I now have many great friends and good memories from my time playing in the famous green and white hoops.
“I will see them all soon. I will be back to watch Celtic in the future – as the club will always be in my heart – and I wish everybody at the club the very best for the future.”
He will be best remembered for that great performance in the victory over Ajax in the Champions League, something we hope he can cherish, but sadly not for far more as many thought would be the case.
He went on to have a very successful time with Brighton firstly helping them to promotion and then being a regular side in the top tier in the English leagues. He was a fan favourite, and after a season long loan with Charlton he left Brighton in the summer of 2020 during the Coronavirus pandemic period. Brighton hailed him on his departure as a ‘true professional and fantastic club servant’.
He returned to Israel in 2020 to play in the Israeli Premier League for Bnei Sakhnin.
[….]
Playing Career
| APPEARANCES | LEAGUE | SCOTTISH CUP | LEAGUE CUP | EUROPE | TOTAL |
| 2010-11 | 21 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 30 |
| Goals | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 2011-12 | 19 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 27 |
| Goals | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2012-13 | 27 | 5 | 1 | 8 | 41 |
| Goals | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2013-14 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 20 |
| Goals | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 2014-15 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 13 |
| Goals | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total Appearances | 86 | 10 | 5 | 31 | 132 |
| Total Goals | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
Honours with Celtic
Scottish League
| KDS Honours | ||
| MOTM Winners 2010-11 | ||
| 19-Aug-10 | Celtic 2-0 Utrecht | EL PO 1st Leg |
| 26-Aug-10 |
Utrecht 4-0 Celtic |
EL PO 2nd Leg |
Pictures
KDS
Quotes
“I enjoy Celtic because it is my family. They support me even when I am injured so they are more than just a football club.”
Beram Kayal (Mar 2013)
“… I’m Arabic. Sometimes people on the outside can’t understand the bigger picture. They ask how Jewish and Arabic people can live together. But, it’s fine, I lived [in Israel] and I enjoyed it and I get on with the people there. I have friends who are Jewish. It shouldn’t really matter in sports about Arabs or Jews. If someone says ‘Beram Kayal is an Arab player’ then that is enough for me.”
Beram Kayal
Articles
Israeli Kayal agrees Celtic deal
Celtic have signed Maccabi Haifa’s Biram Kayal on a four-year deal after the player secured a work permit.
Chief executive Peter Lawwell held talks with the 22-year-old, who arrived in Glasgow for talks earlier this week.
Midfielder Kayal has made more than 100 appearances for Maccabi Haifa after coming through their youth ranks and has been capped 13 times for Israel. Kayal becomes manager Neil Lennon’s seventh summer signing as he aims to rebuild his Celtic squad.
Lennon’s recruitment drive has included midfielders Efrain Juarez and Joe Ledley. Juarez arrived from Pumas and Ledley joined from Cardiff City, while defender Charlie Mulgrew was previously with Aberdeen, right-back Cha Du-Ri with Freiburg and striker Daryl Murphy with Sunderland. The SPL club have also signed striker Gary Hooper from Scunthorpe United for £2.4m. England goalkeeper David James has delayed a planned trip to Glasgow for possible signing talks in order to deal with a family matter.
Story from BBC SPORT:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/sport1/hi/football/teams/c/celtic/8849942.stm
Published: 2010/07/29 11:23:43 GMT
© BBC MMX
Celtic’s new Israeli midfielder Beram Kayal will find similarities between Glasgow and Haifa
The Herald
Michael Grant
1 Aug 2010
BERAM Kayal acclimatised to life in Glasgow long before he even landed in it.
He has come from a city known for having issues with sectarianism, and from a football culture where the major fixtures dominate the news agenda for days in advance. Now he is in another one.
Life in Haifa and Israel has given Celtic’s new midfielder a head start when it comes to knowing what to expect in the west of Scotland.
Kayal is an Arab. He knows that for many who are unfamiliar with Israeli society it is surprising, even startling, that an Arab could integrate and prosper so successfully there. “People see too much television,” he said, alluding to years of coverage of cross-border violence between Israel and Palestine.
“What the television shows about Israel is totally different to what happens. The life between the Jews and the Arabs is very good. I’m an Arab and my agent if Jewish but we’re like family. The Jews and the Arabs live together in Haifa, which is a mixed city. Maccabi Haifa has seven or eight Arab players and that’s normal. The only difference is their religion, but there’s no conflict.”
Both communities are passionate about football. The club scene in the Israeli Premier League includes several vibrant rivalries. Kayal, 22, has spent all his career so far with Maccabi Haifa. Around 550,000 people live in or adjacent to the city and Maccabi’s major fixtures come against the big Tel Aviv clubs. Kayal will draw on his experience of those occasions when the time comes for him to face Rangers.
“I played in big games in Israel against Maccabi Tel Aviv and Hapoel Tel Aviv. If these games were on the Saturday people would start to talk about them on Monday, by Wednesday they’d be sold out and on Friday people would sleep outside the stadium to go inside. So I look forward to the Old Firm games. I look forward to every game with Celtic.”
Comparisons with his countryman, the former Celtic player Eyal Berkovic, are inevitable. Berkovic, signed for £5.75million by John Barnes in 1999, was supremely talented but his temperament was unsuited to the Scottish game and his impact over a couple of seasons was patchy. Kayal is a midfielder, too, but whereas Berkovic was a playmaker the player Neil Lennon has signed comes with a reputation as a tenacious holding midfielder. He has 14 caps for Israel.
“Berkovic is one of the best players in the history of Israeli football, he is a very good player and the type of player you buy tickets to see. When an Israeli player plays for a big club, like when Berkovic played for Celtic, then everyone looks forward to their games and they want him to do well as he represents Israel. In Israel when Yossi Benayoun was playing for Liverpool then people would watch to see what he was doing and Celtic aren’t a lesser club than Liverpool, maybe even bigger.
“I spoke with Berkovic and he told me amazing things about the club. He played for a lot of clubs but he said none of them are close to Celtic. I have a lot of respect for Berkovic but we are totally different players, personalities and mentalities. I am very modest and hard-working and I will fit into the mentality of Scottish football. When I play in the national team I play with the big names like Yossi Benayoun and Tal Ben Haim and I shout at them to go here and go there.”
Lennon was a holding midfielder himself so whether Kayal is successful in the same position for Celtic will be fascinating. “When he picks you to play in his position that’s a very big compliment,” said Kayal. “He brought a lot of passion and power to the side. It’s not fair to compare me because he was a great personality and great player. He has proved himself already and I have proved nothing yet for the fans here.”
Kayal has battled his way to prominence at Celtic
25 Jan 2011
He is so eager to confront opponents and rob them of the ball that aggression is often the dominant impression. He is a fierce competitor, but it is his awareness and intuition that is of greater worth to Celtic. Kayal thrives in bedlam because he is able to turn it to his advantage.
Against Hibernian 10 days ago, Kayal’s forcefulness was evident in what was initially a real tussle, but so too was his shrewdness. Twice, he delivered sharply precise passes that dissected the Hibs defence and sent Gary Hooper then Anthony Stokes through on goal, with the latter earning a penalty that put Celtic 2-0 in front. The team had been drawn into an untidy struggle, but having imposed himself on the game, Kayal dragged them into the ascendency.
His vision and range of passing is accomplished, even if the expertise is not always recognised. In the opening spell at Easter Road, he also over-reacted to a David Wotherspoon challenge and was then booked for a blunt foul on Ian Murray. There was another early yellow card against Aberdeen on Saturday, and there is a tendency to see him as a militant figure.
He can be reckless, and is occasionally guilty of reacting to tackles rashly. Waving his arms and looking truculent makes him appear histrionic, but at 22 there should be some leeway for impulsiveness. Kayal is an emotive individual and his performances are often shaped by his temperament, even if it is mostly expressed as an urgency to be involved. “I want people to love me as much as I love them. Emotions are good for a footballer,” he says.
In Israel, he is considered a prodigy, and already has 16 caps. Fans of his former club, Maccabi Haifa, prized his fighting qualities because his commitment was endearing. This tenacity has been a boon as he accustoms himself to the rough and ready nature of British football, even although the strident behaviour will eventually become a hindrance if he keeps accumulating yellow cards.
Lennon prizes all of Kayal’s qualities, because they seem so familiar. He, too, was a pugnacious, irascible character and has already spoken of the way he sees much of himself in Kayal’s displays. Celtic have won all but one match that the Israeli has played since returning to the side last December, after two months out with a groin injury.
Scott Brown is benefiting from Kayal’s rigourousness, because it frees him up to be more dynamic. The balance works in Celtic’s favour since Lennon looks to his wide players for creativity, while relying on his two central midfielders to assert their authority. The two points dropped against Hamilton Academical apart, the team has begun to look commanding.
Much of this stems from Kayal’s forthright personality, but it is his versatility that is rewarding. He was signed for £1.3m, as a player who had established himself as a hard-running midfielder, then flourished in a more defensively minded role. He brings aspects of both positions to Celtic, and so would conceivably blend perfectly with Ki Sung-Yueng.
Kayal provides options, and this versatility is an advantage for Lennon. On current form, the Israeli could not be dropped to the bench in the same way that Joe Ledley has been. He has become an integral figure, and perhaps not in a way that the Celtic manager first intended. Lennon was immediately impressed by Kayal when watching Maccabi Haifa last season, but there would have been little logic in spending £3m on Efrain Juarez last summer if Kayal was earmarked as the key figure in midfield.
The Israeli has played his way to distinction, while Juarez has become marginalised. Lennon insists the Mexican remains part of his plans, but he must never have anticipated having to defend the player’s lack of involvement. An acclaimed signing, who had just performed admirably at the World Cup, Juarez was considered Celtic’s most significant piece of summer business.
He has not played since the 1-1 draw at home to Dundee United last November and that kind of alienation tends to encourage rumours. Some of the more fanciful ones have claimed he is unpopular with team-mates, but the reality will be more prosaic. Juarez has struggled to adapt to Scottish football and, in the meantime, others have established themselves.
Lennon does not want to make radical changes to his side when the title race is so finely balanced, and so dependable, wholehearted players are preferred. Kayal epitomises this kind of rugged determination, but at the expense of an appreciation of his other qualities.
Impressed? You’ve seen nothing yet of Kayal
hugh.macdonald@heraldandtimes.co.uk
The Herald
9 Mar 2011
THIS is a story of style and substance. The hero is a 22-year-old Arab who has suddenly, dramatically, become not just an influential player but a highly marketable asset.
The journey of Biram Kayal from the street football of Jdeideh, a village near Haifa, to the attention of no less a person than Sir Alex Ferguson has been swift and marked with his belligerent swagger. It has also been built on strong foundations.
The statistics are instructive. Kayal has always been a talent, moving through the under-17, 18, 19 and 21 Israeli teams before making his debut for the national side in 2008. His record at Celtic is impressive. The only time the midfielder has lost in a Celtic jersey was the away match in Utrecht. The Israeli did not play against Braga or in the league defeats to Rangers, Hearts and Motherwell.
This is not coincidental.
The substance of Kayal is illustrated by the facts but the style can only be revealed in stories. The best one concerns his arrival at Lennoxtown. In the first training session, he dumped Scott Brown on his posterior. Moments later he adroitly avoided retribution from the Celtic captain, who again was left on the ground.
Brown took it in good spirit but he also accepted that he had a team-mate of strength, aggression and attitude.
“He is a winner,” says Moshe Harush, the sports correspondent of Haaretzt. “He’s very, very competitive,” says his agent, Dudu Dahan, himself a former player. “He’s a bull,” said Neil Lennon after his first view of his future signing. So where did this talent come from and what type of character is Kayal? The son of a construction worker, he is from a supportive family who remain close to him.
“For him, family is everything,” says Dahan. “His father has given up work to travel to watch his son and to be there for him always.”
Dahan, too, insists his client’s form at Celtic is only an intimation of what is to come from him. “This is him at 50%,” he said yesterday. “Wait until the Celtic fans see him at his best and with some matches behind him. He has so much more to give.”
The agent could be suspected of talking up his client but he delayed a meeting to explain why Kayal was performing so well at Celtic. The midfielder has endured hernia problems, with this injury ruling him out of the run-in to last season’s Israeli title.
However, Dahan said the treatment the player had received at Celtic only made him want to repay the club. “Celtic and Biram is like a wedding. He has had some injuries at Celtic but the club have always looked after him. The manager always gives him confidence. Biram wants to do well for the club and the manager. This is the way to treat players,” said Dahan.
“Biram has had bad times but he never forgets those who stay around him.”
Those “bad times” mostly concern that run-in last season. Hapoel Tel Aviv won the championship in the last minute of the final match, beating Beitur in injury time and depriving Maccabi Haifa of successive titles.
Harush, a journalist who has watched the rise of Kayal, has no doubts about why Haifa conceded the championship after leading it for much of the season. “Kayal was the key,” he said. “He played on and on with an injury until he simply had to stop playing. If he had been on the park, then there would have been different champions.”
Both Dahan and Harush testify to Kayal’s mental strength and his unwavering will. “There is a highly emotional side to him as well,” said Harush. “Coaches talk of him crying in dressing-rooms like a baby after a defeat. You must realise how important it is to compete, to win for him. He is a huge winner. He was a very, very important player in Israel and we are not surprised he has become a star in Scotland.”
Harush said most observers of the Israeli game believed Kayal’s talents would be apparent in any league. “Technically, he is excellent. He is also strong but he has a belief, too. If he feels there is something wrong, he will say it. He will not need to be asked twice for his opinion. He is open in this sense. He plays and talks without fear.”
The signing has been a major coup for Celtic, particularly taken in tandem with the acquisitions of Gary Hooper, Joe Ledley and Emilio Izaguirre for a relatively modest outlay.
Celtic sources say they had few doubts about Kayal before the signing and that he is matching the expectations placed upon him. He was acquired as a midfielder who would be introduced almost immediately into the team. Lennon has given Kayal the opportunity. The midfielder has grabbed it.
There has been subsequent surprise that such an obvious talent was not pursued by many other clubs but Harush said: “Celtic made the only concrete offer, believed to be about €1.8m. There was some interest from English clubs and from Germany. But the only firm move came from Celtic. Kayal knew the size of the club and was delighted to go.”
His career in Glasgow has been blemished only by injuries. “Yes, he has already become a hero to the Celtic fans in just months,” said Dahan. “But he can and will give more.”
The agent then excused himself to go into his meeting, leaving a final message. Dahan may have demands on his time as covetous eyes come to rest on his player, but he is insistent about Kayal’s immediate future. “Biram loves Celtic and has a great relationship with the manager,” he said. “His big ambition is to play Champions League football for Celtic next season.”
The Kayal-Celtic marriage is likely to have future chapters of intrigue and drama.