Club Career
Katan joined Maccabi Haifa's youth set up at the age of 9. He quickly moved up the club's ranks, becoming a regular in Haifa's senior squad at the age of 16. In 2002, during the second leg of the UEFA Champions League second qualifying round against FC Haka, he temporarily became the second Israeli (after Alon Mizrahi) to score a hat-trick in Europe — only for Haifa to be suspended for fielding an ineligible player and the scoreline reversed. The following season Maccabi reached the groups stages, and Katan opened the score against Manchester United twice: both in Maccabi's 2–5 away loss and in its 3–0 home win (which was played in Cyprus for security reasons).
In December 2005, Katan signed a four-year contract with West Ham United, where he joined up with Israeli international team mate Yossi Benayoun. The transfer, which was officially completed during the January 2006 transfer window, involved a cut-price fee of £100,000, as Katan had only six months left on his Maccabi contract. The pacey centre forward made eight appearances, including six from the bench, for West Ham, where he faced stiff competition for places with Marlon Harewood, Teddy Sheringham, Dean Ashton and Bobby Zamora all vying for a starting place.
At the end of the 2005–06 season, Yaniv moved back to Maccabi Haifa in a loan deal, with a view to a permanent move, after Alan Pardew reportedly told him he was no longer in his plans. He returned to Israel and made his loan deal permanent by signing a new four-year deal with Haifa. Katan scored the championship goal against Hapoel Tel-Aviv in 2008-2009 season.
Read more about this topic: Yaniv Katan
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