Maccabi Tel Aviv turned to Ayelet Shaked in the last hour with a request to regulate the residency status of Enrik Saborit. Against the background of the progress in Ali Muhammad’s naturalization procedures and Maccabi Haifa’s request to also grant citizenship to the Swedish defender Daniel Sondgren, the Yellows turned to the Minister of the Interior with a request to also regulate the status of the Spanish defender-stopper, who entered his fifth season in Israel.
Saborit only played in the youth team of Spain, so if he is granted the status of a permanent resident, he will be able to receive a call-up to the senior Israel team. Also, in such a case, a place will be made available for another foreigner for Maccabi Tel Aviv.
The 30-year-old Saborit grew up in Barcelona, and took his first steps in Espanyol’s youth department, playing in Media until the age of 16. After that, he moved to Vitoria with his mother, and joined Athletic Bilbao’s youth team. He reached Bilbao’s senior team and wore Media for five years, with a brief stop in Mallorca in the 2014/15 season.
In June 2018, Saborit arrived in Israel for the first time, after signing for three years at Maccabi Tel Aviv. He was a senior partner in the team winning two championships, and also won the State Cup in 2021 and the Toto Cup in 2019 and 2020. Over the years, Saborit and his family members became supporters of Israel, and expressed support for the government more than once on social networks – even during military operations.