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Top 10 Facts About Pini Zahavi

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Pinhas Pini Zahavi was born on 24th August 1943 in Ness Ziona. His family is of Jewish background.

The father of Pini Zahavi was a shopkeeper. He sold building materials to local tradesmen. He has three siblings; two elder sisters and a brother. The wife of Pini Zahavi passed on leaving him as a widower with two children.

Pini Zahavi is an Israeli football agent. He is the agent who was involved in the ownership change of Chelsea and Portsmouth. Pini Zahavi began his career as a football journalist.

He, later on, became one of the most prolific super agents in the football world. Pini Zahavi represents several other top footballers.

1. Pini Zahavi Dropped Out of School to Become a Football Journalist

Pini Zahavi did not manage to complete his education. Because of his poor background, Pini opted to drop out of school at the university level.

He decided to begin his career as a football journalist. Pini Zahavi went back to Israel where he worked for three renowned companies. He worked for the Israeli newspapers Hadashot Hasport, Yedioth Ahronoth and Hadashot.

2. Zahavi Negotiated his First Deal for an Israeli Player to Liverpool

In 1979, Pini Zahavi managed to negotiate the first player deal. He negotiated the deal of Israeli defender Avi Cohen to Liverpool.

Even though Pini Zahavi had no experience in player transfers, he managed to seal the deal of Cohen to Liverpool.

Zahavi used to travel to  England and watch the games. He met with Peter Robinson, the then secretary of Liverpool and recommend Cohen to the club.

Avi Cohen then travelled to England for trials with Liverpool. The player was later on signed by Liverpool for $213,991.

He went ahead with his football journalism job but decided to quit in 1998 to fully concentrate on his new career.

3. Zahavi Secured Record Transfer Deal of Rio Ferdinand from Leeds to Manchester United

During his time as a football journalist, Pini made several friends including by then manager of Manchester United Sir Alex Ferguson.

In 2000, Pini handled the transfer of Rio Ferdinand from West Ham United to Leeds United for $19.25 million.

Later on, in 2002, Pini Zahavi was responsible for the by-then record transfer of Rio Ferdinand from Leeds United to Manchester United. He negotiated a deal that was worth $32 million. Pini then earned an interest of $1.2 million from this deal.

4. Zahavi Played a Major Role in Abramovic’s Acquisition of Chelsea

Pini was involved in several major player transfers in the 2000s. However, he played an important and central role in the new ownership of the Chelsea football club.

Pini Zahavi had been introduced to Roman Abramovich in Moscow by a mutual friend. In 2003, Chelsea was in debt and was on the verge of not being able to pay players’ wages.

The by then Chelsea executive, Trevor Birch approached Pini Zahavi who in turn provided an introduction to Roman Abramovich.

He then played a major role in Roman Abramovich’s acquisition of Chelsea for $190 million. Pini Zahavi was also involved in the transfer of players to Chelsea who cost $137 million.

He earned $6.2 million from this deal.

5. Zahavi is among Top Super Agents Representing Top Footballers

As years passed by, Pini Zahavi’s football agency grew. He is among the top super agents in the football world.

Pini Zahavi represents several top footballers playing for teams like Manchester United, Bayern Munich, Tottenham Hotspurs and other clubs.

He represents top players like; Robert Lewandoski, Alex Telles, Christopher Nkunku, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, and Julian Weigl, among many other players.

6. Zahavi Served in the Israeli Army

After turning 18 years, Pini Zahavi joined the Israeli Defense Forces. He then served in the Israeli army for quite some time before quitting and resuming his career.

Pini Zahavi needed to serve in the Israel Defense Forces as it is compulsory for every Israeli citizen.

7. Zahavi had a Rough Time Negotiating Contract of David Alaba with Bayern Munich

Pini Zahavi represents several players including former Bayern Munich defender David Alaba.

In September 2020, Pini Zahavi had lengthy contract negotiations with David Alaba with Bayern Munich. Former Bayern Munich president Uli Hoeness wanted Alaba to extend his contract with the club.

However, there were a lot of controversies during the contract negotiations in which Pini wanted huge demands. This made Uli name Pini Zahavi a ‘greedy piranha’ of an agent.

The disagreement between Pini Zahavi and Bayern made the super-agent negotiate and agree on a deal with Real Madrid.

8. Pini Received a Two Months Ban by FA

Super agent Pini Zahavi got himself in some controversy in 2015. Zahavi was representing the interest of Brighton football club, as well as worked in the move of Kayal from Celtic to the club.

However, he did not reveal his dual interest in the transfer of the player and representation of the club.

The football association launched an investigation and found out the whole truth. Zahavi then admitted to the dual representation which meant that he never paid the appropriate tax on the transfer.

The commission accepted the admission of Pini Zahavi, and because he had no previous disciplinary record, he was handed a two-month sanction for not being a transfer intermediary.

He was also made to pay a fine of five thousand euros.

9. Zahavi Played a Major Role in Neymar’s Record Move from Barcelona to PSG

Pini Zahavi has always been involved in record player transfers. Among the major transfers, he played a role is the mega-money move of Neymar from Barcelona to Â鶹APP Saint Germain.

In the summer of 2017, Pini Zahavi played a major role in negotiating the 222 million euros move of the Brazilian to PSG.

10. Zahavi was under Scrutiny after Police Raided his Office

In 2019, police raided the offices of Pini Zahavi in Belgium. This raid was to find out whether he owned a football club which was against the law for players’ agents to own football clubs in Belgium.

Pini Zahavi will always be acknowledged as the most prolific super-agent in football.