Liel Abada, born in Petah Tikva on 3 October 2001 (age 24), is an Israel international winger now with Charlotte FC. A compact 5ft 6in (1.68m) wide player, he has generally operated from the right, where his game has been built more on timing and penalty-box movement than touchline theatre.
He came through at Maccabi Petah Tikva and had his most productive league season there in 2020-21, scoring 12 goals in 36 appearances. Celtic moved for him in July 2021, paying around £3.5m, a sensible punt on a young forward who had already shown he could turn promise into numbers.
His Celtic spell was one of sharp moments rather than a long, settled arc. He arrived young, contributed from wide areas, and left in March 2024 when Charlotte FC paid around £6m. It was a decent profit for Celtic, which tends to soften most farewells, if not all of them.
At Charlotte, Abada wears the number 11 shirt and has continued his career in MLS as a right winger. The move took him from a demanding Celtic environment into a different kind of league and a different kind of scrutiny.
Abada’s career so far has run from Petah Tikva to Celtic and then Charlotte: early productivity in Israel, a significant move to Glasgow, and a fresh stage in the United States. At 24, he is still young enough for the next part of that career to carry more weight than the last.
