Article by Cosmin Nistor – Published Tuesday, 06 January 2026 23:28 / Updated Tuesday, 06 January 2026 23:29
According to Israeli media, Marcus Coco will sign a one-and-a-half-year contract, arriving in Israel in the next 24 hours. The move will be formalized after the medical visit.
Marcus Coco, agreement with Hapoel Tel Aviv: “He will officially sign a contract for a period of one and a half years”
The 29-year-old defender joins Hapoel Tel Aviv, the 5th-placed team in Israel's first football division:
Marcus Coco has reached an agreement with Hapoel Tel Aviv on a one and a half year contract.
The experienced full-back, who has an impressive track record in French football, is set to join Hapoel Tel Aviv subject to a successful medical.
Defender Marcus Coco has reached an agreement with the club and is expected to arrive in Israel in the next 24 hours. He will officially sign a contract for a period of one and a half years, subject to passing medical tests.
The 29-year-old defender comes to Hapoel Tel Aviv from CFR Cluj, a team for which he made nine appearances in the championship in the first part of the current season. Coco previously played for French club FC Nantes for five seasons, for whom he made 131 appearances in all competitions.
Before moving to Nantes in 2019 in a move valued at €3m, Coco played for En Avant Guingamp. Throughout his career, he has amassed a total of 260 appearances in France's top flight, including 20 league appearances in the 2024/25 season.
At the international level, Coco also represented the French U21 national team, for which he collected 17 selections during his junior years.
– notes the Israeli journalists from htafc.co.il.
12millions of euros is the value of the Hapoel Tel Aviv lot, according to Transfermarkt
The adventure from CFR Cluj, a short one
Arriving free of contract in September 2025, from FC Nantes, Marcus Coco played in 10 games for CFR Cluj, 9 of which in the Superliga. Although at one point it looked like he had earned himself a starting place, the defender made several errors at the start of the season and the confidence of the technical staff was quickly lost.
Before coming to Romania, Marcus Coco played for five seasons at FC Nantes, where he made 131 appearances in all competitions. The French transferred him in 2019 from Guingamp, for approximately 3 million euros. In total, the defender made 260 Ligue 1 appearances and was a France youth international with 17 U21 caps. The separation from Coco comes in a period of important changes at CFR Cluj, after the departures of Lindon Emerllahu (Polissya Zhytomyr) and Louis Munteanu (DC United).
Other departures from Gruia are coming
Kurt Zouma, Mohamed Badamosi and Anton Kresic are also on the list of players who could leave the Transylvanian formation, and an official decision is expected in the next period. Also, the situation of Ciprian Deac and Djokovic, left out of the training camp in Spain, remains uncertain.
