10 transfers that will rock the handball world this summer

27 Apr. 2022

10 transfers that will rock the handball world this summer

Handball is a free-flowing, high-octane sport and, therefore, mobility and adaptability – moving to new directions – are aspects that are in its nature. Every summer, be it in the men’s or women’s club handball, teams are trying to strengthen their squads, bolstering their ranks to compete for the biggest prizes.

Therefore, it is always interesting to take a closer look at the transfer market, as the deals forge a domino effect that are likely to provide new changes. This is also the case for the new season, which will throw off in a few months, as some influential players have signed deals with new sides.

The MVP of the last two editions of the IHF Men’s World Championship, left back Mikkel Hansen, makes his comeback in the Danish League after a decade, while another Danish player, goalkeeper Sandra Toft, the 2021 IHF Female World Player of the Year, also changes clubs.

While other transfers are still in their final stages but pen has not been put to paper and the ranking can still change once the next season starts, are you ready to cut directly into an analysis of the top 10 transfers made in handball over the last months?

Top transfers – Male players

Mikkel Hansen (PSG Handball ► Aalborg Håndbold)

Mikkel Hansen


The MVP of the last two IHF Men’s World Championship editions has spent 10 years at Paris Saint-Germain Handball, where he scored exactly 800 goals in the EHF Champions League Men. He passed the 1000-goal mark in the European premium competition this season, but leaves an unsolved riddle, as the French powerhouse never won the coveted title. 

A knee injury sidelined Hansen for the rest of the season in March and, therefore, he will not play again for the side he has been calling home since 2012, as the 34-year-old left back is coming back to Denmark. The towering Danish back had previously spent three years at GOG Håndbold and two years at AG København, but signed for Aalborg with a single and clear objective: win the EHF Champions League Men, the only trophy that eluded him until this point in his career. 

Mathias Gidsel (GOG Håndbold ► Füchse Berlin)

Mathias Gidsel


2021 has been a breakthrough year for Gidsel, whose debut in the Denmark men’s national team in a major international tournament yielded a gold medal at the IHF Men’s World Championship and a silver medal at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020. It was going to be difficult for GOG Håndbold to keep their golden goose on the team after Gidsel won the MVP award at Tokyo 2020, with a plethora of teams interested.

The coveted right back, who scored 159 goals in 33 games for Denmark over the past two years made his choice and it surprised many. Füchse Berlin, who are currently ranking third in the German Bundesliga, snatched the 23-year-old rising star, who will definitely add more to his arsenal in such a competitive championship.

Nedim Remili (PSG Handball ► Łomża Vive Kielce) 

Nedim Remili


Born and bred in Creteil, Remili, who was long seen as the next best thing in French handball signed for PSG Handball in 2016 – exactly the year he made his debut for France’s national team. Later on, he was named the All-star right back of the IHF Men’s World Championship in 2017 and the All-star centre back at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, which France won.

While his output was constantly analysed and scrutinised, Remili is a five-time French league winner with PSG – yet, he failed to win the EHF Champions League Men with the Parisian outfit. Therefore, when Polish champions Łomża Vive Kielce came calling, Remili had an affirmative answer, bolstering the French numbers to four in the team’s roster, as Dylan Nahi and Nicolas Tournat are already at Kielce, with Benoit Kounkoud joining Remili in Talant Dujshebaev’s side.

Andreas Palicka (Redbergslids IK ► PSG Handball)

Andreas Palicka


The 35-year-old goalkeeper left Rhein-Neckar Löwen in December 2021 to join his first-ever senior team, Redbergslids IK, who were fighting to avoid relegation in the Swedish league. Yet, he was once again a player coveted for his experience and leadership skills in defence and PSG, with both of their goalkeepers – Vincent Gerard and Yann Genty – leaving this summer, was a perfect fit.

Palicka was an integral part of Sweden’s team that won the silver medal at the 2021 IHF Men’s World Championship, where he was named the All-star goalkeeper, and gold at the Men’s EHF EURO 2022 and will bring plenty of expertise to a team that is still trying to win their first-ever EHF Champions League Men title. 

Yehia Elderaa (Zamalek SC Handball ► Telekom Veszprém KC)

Yehia Elderaa


Worldwide, Egypt men’s senior team were one of the sides that improved most since Roberto Garcia Parrondo assumed the coaching position in 2019 – finishing fourth at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, their best-ever performance in the competition, and seventh at the 2021 IHF Men’s World Championship, which they hosted. Plenty of that progress was due to Elderaa’s role in the team, his excellent performances also lifting the left back to the MVP award at the CAHB African Men’s Handball Championship in 2020. 

Elderaa has spent one year in Europe, in the 2017/18 season at Danish side Ribe-Esbherg HH, but failed to adapt and went back to Egypt. However, Veszprém, one of the top European sides, enjoyed success with another Egyptian back, Yahia Omar, and will now rely on two ‘Pharaohs’ in their quest to win their first-ever EHF Champions League Men title.

Top transfers – Female players

Sandra Toft (Brest Bretagne Handball ► Győri Audi ETO KC)

Sandra Toft


The 32-year-old goalkeeper cemented her status as one of the top shot stoppers in women’s handball in 2021, being instrumental for Denmark in securing their first medal at a major tournament since 2013. Toft, the All-star goalkeeper at the 2021 IHF Women’s World Championship, where Denmark clinched the bronze medal, has also made headlines with some superb performances for Brest Bretagne Handball, the runners-up in the EHF Champions League Women last season.

Győr have consistently made impressive transfers over the last few years and Toft is a move made in that exact mould, replacing Amandine Leynaud, another key member of the squad, who retires from handball this summer. Toft, the 2021 IHF Female World Player of the Year, will be eyeing her first-ever EHF Champions League Women title, provided she does not win it with Brest this season.

Jovanka Radičević (Kastamonu Belediyesi GSK ► RK Krim Mercator)

Jovanka Radicevic


Radicevic is only 22 goals shy of the 1000-goal mark in the EHF Champions League Women and, if healthy, will surely pass it in the next season, when she will suit up for RK Krim Mercator. The Montenegrin right wing has never scored less than 49 goals in a season in the European premium competition since the 2010/11 season and sought a new challenge after her current side, Kastamonu Belediyesi GSK, finished the season with 14 losses from 14 matches.

Krim made the quarter-finals of the EHF Champions League Women this season and will have big ambitions in the next year, as highlighted by this transfer. Radicevic brings plenty of experience, having played for RK Vardar, Győr, CSM Bucuresti and Buducnost, and will likely eye another trip to the EHF FINAL4.

Nora Mørk (Vipers Kristiansand ► Team Esbjerg)

Nora Mork


Team Esbjerg had a superb activity on the transfer market last summer, pulling out a coup when they signed left back Henny Reistad, who has been their top performer constantly this season, when they dropped a single game out of the 14 they played in the group phase of the EHF Champions League Women. Adding Nora Mørk to the fold will surely establish a connection that worked out wonderfully at the IHF Women’s World Championship, helping Norway win the gold medal. 

Finally overcoming her injury issues, which sidelined Mørk for more than two years, the right back was crucial for Vipers Kristiansand in winning their first-ever EHF Women’s Champions League title in the 2020/21 season – and she has already scored 86 goals in this season, which makes her the third top scorer of the competition, taking her total tally to 690 goals, jumping on the ninth place in the all-time top scorer list. 

Jamina Roberts (IK Sävehof ► Vipers Kristiansand)

Jamina Roberts


Back in European competition for the first time since the 2017/18 season, when she was plying her trade for Hungarian outfit ERD HC, Jamina Roberts was immense for IK Sävehof, despite the elimination of the Swedish side in the group phase of the EHF Champions League Women. The 31-year-old left back scored 87 goals for her side, jumping on the second place in the top scorer standings, while also impressing at the 2021 IHF Women’s World Championship for Sweden, who finished fifth in the final ranking.

Roberts, who has already played in Denmark and Hungary, will now suit up for a Norwegian team for the first time in her career, while Vipers go through an overhaul of the 9-metre line as another Swedish back, Isabelle Gulldén, goes back to Sweden to play for Lugi HF and Nora Mørk leaves for Esbjerg.

Line Haugsted (Viborg HK ► Győri Audi ETO KC)

Line Haugsted


As previously explained, Győri Audi ETO KC do not splash around on players, rather than pinpointing their main targets and improving their side in the transfer windows. Prioritising their defence has been one of the objectives in each and every summer for Győr and they went out at it again, snatching Line Haugsted from Viborg HK, the team where she spent the last six years.

Haugsted, a towering left back, led the top blocking standings at the 2021 IHF Women’s World Championship, stopping 19 shots in nine games, for an average of 2.1 blocked shots per game. Adding the eight steals she pulled off throughout the games, she is one of the top defenders in the world, adding to an already star-studded line-up on that side of the ball for Győr.