Pini Zahavi
| Pinhas "Pini" Zahavi | |
|---|---|
| Born |
August 24, 1943 Ness Ziona, Israel |
| Nationality | Israeli |
| Occupation | Sports agent |
Pinhas "Pini" Zahavi (Hebrew: פנחס "פיני" זהבי; born 1955) is an Israeli football agent.
Zahavi is known for his involvement in the change of ownership of Chelsea and Portsmouth and for his work as a football agent especially the (at the time) record breaking transfer of Rio Ferdinand.
He is licensed as a football agent from his offices in Tel Aviv through the Israel Football Association.
Pini Zahavi was born in Ness Ziona in 1955, the son of a shopkeeper who sold building materials to local tradesmen. He has two elder sisters and a brother.
Zahavi began a career as a football journalist after dropping out of university. He worked for the Israeli newspapers Hadashot Hasport, Yedioth Ahronoth and Hadashot.
He negotiated his first deal in 1979; the transfer of Israeli defender Avi Cohen from Maccabi Tel Aviv to Liverpool. As a sports journalist, he build up a network of contacts throughout the 1980s. He gave up his job as a journalist in 1998 and negotiated his second deal the following year. This marked the beginning of his career as an agent and he continued to develop close ties in the football world by organising friendly internationals in Israel, inviting players, including Graeme Souness and Kenny Dalglish, to holiday at his villa in Eilat, and even taking oranges to Melwood, Liverpool's training ground, as a gift for players and staff.
Zahavi's first transfer deal was undertaken in 1979 when he helped arrange the transfer of Israeli defender Avi Cohen from Maccabi Tel Aviv to Liverpool for £200,000. Zahavi, who traveled 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. The player had got to know Zahavi through his coverage of Maccabi Tel Aviv in Yedioth Ahronoth. Zahavi was paid an introduction fee for his part in the deal.
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