 He worked on the signings of Eyal Berkovic and Yakubu from Maccabi Haifa, owned by Zahavi's school friend Ya'akov Shahar, in April 2003 and was involved in the recruitment of Collins Mbesuma in August 2005.In July 2005, Zahavi agreed a fee of £3.64 million for his part in Yakubu's transfer from Portsmouth to Middlesbrough.The fee, agreed with Middlesbrough's chief executive Keith Lamb, was to be paid in ten installments over five years if Yakubu remained at the club.