Maccabi Haifa Kayal started his career as a striker in the various Youth teams of Maccabi Haifa and scored many goals before taking on the role of a midfielder. Despite only being 16 years old at the time, he moved up to the Maccabi Haifa under-19 team for the 2004–05 campaign and excelled as part of the team that won a League and Cup double. Kayal was named the League's Outstanding Player. He made his first-team debut for Maccabi Haifa at the end of the 2005–06 season in a 2–1 win over
Maccabi Petah Tikva which sealed Haifa's third League title in a row at the age of 17 making two appearances that season. In the 2006–07 season, he made six appearances in all competitions, but took on the role of captain of the under-19 team that won another League and Cup double. He scored a hat-trick in a league win against
Beitar Jerusalem. In the 2007–08 season Kayal became a first team regular featuring 36 times in the first-team. After that he became an integral part of the team and enjoyed success in subsequent seasons winning the
Premier League and
Toto Cup. During the
2007 Torneo di Viareggio youth tournament in Italy, Kayal was praised by the Italian press for a
Man of the match performance against their counterparts from
Fiorentina. Both
Corriere della Sera and
Gazzetta dello Sport seemed to be astonished to learn that he was an Arab on an Israeli team and took a great amount of time to learn more about him. In the
2009–10 season, Maccabi Haifa lost the Premier League championship on the last matchday, when
Hapoel Tel Aviv scored in the 92nd minute to beat Beitar Jerusalem.
Celtic in 2012 On 29 July 2010, Kayal signed a four-year deal with
Scottish Premier League side
Celtic and was given the number 33 shirt. The transfer fee paid to Maccabi Haifa was reported as £1.2 million. Kayal made his debut for Celtic against
FC Utrecht on 19 August 2010 and showed his full potential by getting off to the best possible start, setting up the opening goal of the game for
Efraín Juárez and winning the
Man of the Match award. In September 2010 he was out of action for three months due to a hernia injury which required surgery. He made his return as a substitute on 26 December against
St Johnstone, and was restored to the starting line-up in a 2–0 win over
Rangers at
Ibrox on 2 January 2011. His performances won him the
SPL Player of the Month award for January 2011, and the praise of Celtic manager
Neil Lennon. His determination and competitive attitude played a key part in his side's success in his
first season in Scottish football. On 9 April 2011, Kayal captained the side in a 1–0 win over
St Mirren. He scored his first goal for
Celtic in a 1–0 SPL win over
St Johnstone on 12 April 2011. His first home goal was a long range effort against
Dundee United on 1 May 2011. On 4 May, Kayal had to be taken off in the second half of an SPL match against
Inverness Caledonian Thistle because of suspected concussion after a collision with
Ross Tokely. Kayal sustained a fractured wrist in the same incident and subsequently missed the rest of the
2010–11 season. Kayal captained Celtic for the second time on 10 September 2011, against
Motherwell in the SPL, leading the team to a 4–0 victory at
Celtic Park. He was made captain while
Scott Brown was out with an ankle injury. Kayal suffered ankle ligament damage against Rangers on 28 December 2011 after a tackle by
Lee McCulloch and was stretchered off with 13 minutes to play. Celtic won the match 1–0 which sent them top of the SPL table. The injury put Kayal out of action for over four months and he returned to the side only in the last game of the season, a 5–0 win over
Hearts. Later, Kayal accused McCulloch of deliberately injuring him and that he had "not forgotten that for a moment." In the 2012 season, Kayal obtained European nationality and played an important role for the team during the Scottish League. On 22 October 2013, he scored his first goal in the
UEFA Champions League against
AFC Ajax in a 2–1 win.
Brighton & Hove Albion On 23 January 2015, Kayal signed for
Brighton & Hove Albion on a two-and-a-half-year deal, for an undisclosed fee. He made his debut on 7 February, scoring a consolation goal for Brighton in a 2–3 defeat at home against
Nottingham Forest. On 18 August, he scored within 14 seconds away to
Huddersfield Town, albeit in a 1–1 draw. Brighton narrowly missed out on automatic promotion where Kayal played 43 games and scoring 2 goals in the league in the
2015-16 season. Brighton were to face another season in the Championship after losing to
Sheffield Wednesday on aggregate in the playoffs where Kayal played in both matches for the Albion. On 7 January 2017 Kayal played in his first
FA Cup match, scoring in the 2–0 home win over
MK Dons. On 17 April he played in the 2–1 home win over
Wigan Athletic which secured automatic promotion to the
Premier League. He made his Premier League debut on 13 December 2017 in a 2–0 away defeat to
Tottenham Hotspur. Kayal went on to make 18 more Premier League appearances and played in the 1–0 win over
Manchester United which secured Albion's Premier League status. Kayal signed a one-year contract extension on 28 September 2018 that keeps him at the Sussex club until June 2020. He scored his first Premier League goal in a 1–0 away win against
Newcastle United on 20 October. He played in all five games for Brighton to the run up to the
2019 FA Cup Semi Final, which included the narrow quarter final penalty shootout win away at
Millwall. However, he did not feature in the 1–0 semi final defeat against
Manchester City at
Wembley. Kayal appeared in the 1–1 home draw against Newcastle claiming a vital point for
The Seagulls in their fight for survival. Kayal made 18 league appearances as Brighton retained their Premier League status for a third consecutive season.
Charlton Athletic (loan) On 8 August 2019, Kayal signed for
Championship side
Charlton Athletic on a season-long loan. He made his debut for
The Addicks on 14 September in a 1–0 home defeat against
Birmingham City. On 15 January 2020, Kayal's loan was cut short due to injury.
Brighton departure Kayal was released from
The Albion in July 2020 after five and a half years with the club. He made 131 appearances scoring five times in all competitions in a successful time for the Sussex side.
Bnei Sakhnin On 17 November 2020, Kayal returned to Israel and signed a three-year contract with
Bnei Sakhnin of the Israeli Premier League, who had just been promoted. He scored his first goal for the club, scoring the only goal of the game in a 1–0 home victory over
Hapoel Be'er Sheva on his 11th appearance, on 30 January 2021. ==International career==