Nir Bitton, an Israeli born footballer (born 30 October 1991, now 33 years of age), is recognised for his defensive mastery on the field, predominantly functioning as a central defender for Maccabi Tel Aviv. His imposing stature, standing at 1.96m (6ft 5in) and weighing 80kg (12st 8lb), certainly makes him a formidable figure. He can commonly be seen brandishing the number 55 strip.
Bitton's journey into football began with FC Ashdod, an Israeli Premier League club, as a trainee in July 1997. His debut season in 2009 - 2010 witnessed him taking part in 21 first team games and managing to net one goal. The following season, he increased his involvement to 34 first team games and improved his goal tally to five. Subsequent seasons (2011 - 2012, 2012 - 2013) saw him maintain a consistent presence, featuring in 36 and 31 first team games respectively, scoring a total of eight goals in the process.
August 2013 marked a significant change in Bitton's career trajectory when he made a £700k move from FC Ashdod to the Scottish Premiership team Celtic. His time at Celtic extended from 2013 to 2022, crossing numerous seasons each with diverse achievements. His initiation season in 2013 - 2014 was a conservative one with 15 first team appearances. The subsequent seasons until 2017 - 2018 saw him garnering a wealth of experience by making a total of 102 first team appearances and netting eight goals. The 2018 - 2019 and following seasons witnessed a decline in first team appearances presumably due to competition or injuries, but he still kept on contributing to the team until his final season in 2021 - 2022. During this period, he made 24 first team appearances and scored once. This brought his Celtic career to a grand total of 147 league appearances with 10 goals.
Bitton then made the decision to return to his home nation, transferring from Celtic to Maccabi Tel Aviv in July 2022. In the current 2024 - 2025 season, he has made a singular first team appearance. In addition to his domestic involvements, Bitton has also plied his trade in the Europa League Qualifiers 2024 - 2025 for Maccabi Tel Aviv with two appearances off the bench, and the Conference League 2023 - 2024, achieving two starts and two substitute appearances.
