Beram Kayal

Beram Kayal (or Biram Keyal, بيرم كيال, בירם כיאל; born 2 May 1988) is an Israeli professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Bnei Sakhnin of the Israeli Premier League.

Kayal joined Maccabi Haifa in 2002 and made his professional debut in 2006 at the age of 18.

Despite only being 16 years old at the time, he moved up to the Maccabi Haifa under-19 team for the 2004–05 campaign and excelled as part of the team that won a League and Cup double.

Kayal was named the League's Outstanding Player.

He made his first-team debut for Maccabi Haifa at the end of the 2005–06 season in a 2–1 win over Maccabi Petah Tikva which sealed Maccabi's third League title in a row at the age of 17 making two appearances that season.

In the 2006–07 season, he made six appearances in all competitions, but took on the role of captain of the under-19 team that won another League and Cup double.

He scored a hat-trick in a league win against Beitar Jerusalem.

In the 2007–08 season Kayal became a first team regular featuring 36 times in the first-team.

After that he became an integral part of the team and enjoyed success in subsequent seasons winning the Premier League and Toto Cup.

During the 2007 Torneo di Viareggio youth tournament in Italy, Kayal was praised by the Italian press for a Man of the match performance against their counterparts from Fiorentina.

Both Corriere della Sera and Gazzetta dello Sport seemed to be astonished to learn that he was an Arab on an Israeli team and took a great amount of time to learn more about him.

Internationally he plays for Israel, where he has been a full international since 2008, with 47 senior caps to date.

In the 2009–10 season, Maccabi Haifa lost the Premier League championship on the last matchday, when Hapoel Tel Aviv scored in the 92nd minute to beat Beitar Jerusalem.

He made 125 appearances and scored eight goals before moving to Celtic in 2010.

On 29 July 2010, Kayal signed a four-year deal with Scottish Premier League side Celtic and was given the number 33 shirt.

The transfer fee paid to Maccabi Haifa was reported as £1.2 million.

Kayal made his debut for Celtic against FC Utrecht on 19 August 2010 and showed his full potential by getting off to the best possible start, setting up the opening goal of the game for Efraín Juárez and winning the Man of the Match award.

In September 2010 he suffered a setback and was out of action for three months due to a hernia injury which required surgery.

Kayal sustained a fractured wrist in the same incident and subsequently missed the rest of the 2010–11 season.

He has received plaudits from many Scottish football pundits and was named the SPL player of the month for January 2011.

He made his return as a substitute on 26 December against St Johnstone, and was restored to the starting line-up in a 2–0 win over Rangers at Ibrox on 2 January 2011.

His performances won him the SPL Player of the Month award for January 2011, and the praise of Celtic manager Neil Lennon.

His determination and competitive attitude played a key part in his side's success in his first season in Scottish football.

On 9 April 2011, Kayal captained the side in a 1–0 win over St Mirren.

He scored his first goal for Celtic in a 1–0 SPL win over St Johnstone on 12 April 2011.

His first home goal was a long range effort against Dundee United on 1 May 2011.

On 4 May, Kayal had to be taken off in the second half of an SPL match against Inverness Caledonian Thistle because of suspected concussion after a collision with Ross Tokely.

Kayal captained Celtic for the second time on 10 September 2011, against Motherwell in the SPL, leading the team to a 4–0 victory at Celtic Park.

He was made captain while Scott Brown was out with an ankle injury.

Kayal suffered ankle ligament damage against Rangers on 28 December 2011 after a tackle by Lee McCulloch and was stretchered off with 13 minutes to play.

Celtic won the match 1–0 which sent them top of the SPL table.

The injury put Kayal out of action for over four months and he returned to the side only in the last game of the season, a 5–0 win over Hearts.

Later, Kayal accused McCulloch of deliberately injuring him that he "have not forgotten that for a moment."

In the 2012 season, Kayal obtained European nationality and played an important role for the team during the Scottish League.

On 22 October 2013, he scored his first goal in the UEFA Champions League against AFC Ajax in a 2–1 win.

In January 2015, he joined Brighton & Hove Albion where he spent five-and-a-half years – including a loan spell at Charlton Athletic – helping The Seagulls to Premier League promotion for the first time in the club's history.

On 23 January 2015, Kayal signed for Brighton & Hove Albion on a two-and-a-half-year deal, for an undisclosed fee.

Kayal made a return to Israel in November 2020 signing for Bnei Sakhnin of the Israeli top flight.

Kayal was born in Jadeidi-Makr, Israel, to a Muslim-Arab family, and is an Arab-Israeli citizen.

Kayal started his career as a striker in the various Youth teams of Maccabi Haifa and scored many goals before taking on the role of a midfielder.