2025-07-17 11:00

After seven years in the Bundesliga, Croatia's Ivan Martinovic, currently one of the most wanted right-backs in handball, will start next season at One Veszprém HC after signing a four-year contract with the club until the end of the 2028/2029 season.

Croatian Ivan Martinovic started his professional career in Vienna before becoming an Austrian champion and cup winner, in 2018 he moved to the german Bundesliga, where he spent the last seven years with VfL Gummersbach, TSV Hannover, MT Melsungen and last season Rhein-Neckar Löwen, where he scored 140 goals in 23 games.

He made his debut for the Croatian senior national team in 2019 and quickly emerged as one of the top scorers for the team, he has been the national team's top scorer at the 2022 European Championship, the 2024 Paris Olympics and this year's World Championship, where he won a silver medal with the national team and was selected for the tournament's All-Star team. 

Immediately after the Worlds he received another accolade when, following the retirement of Domagoj Duvnjak after the final against Denmark, Ivan Martinovic was appointed as the new captain of the national team. The player has committed himself to One Veszprém HC for the next four seasons, until the summer of 2029.

Ivan Martinovic: "I am at my best as an athlete. This is the perfect time to change and level up, because now I can spend my best years with the best team. I feel that over the last seven years I have earned the opportunity to prove myself in Veszprém and to show myself at the highest level on the European stage. I hope to give this club and the fans what they deserve for a long time to come, and I want to play as big a part as possible in that."

Dr. Csaba Bartha, CEO of Veszprém Handball Team Zrt.: "The player's performance in recent years has been more than remarkable, the highlight of which was the World Championship in January, where he was one of the best right backs in the tournament, and was voted to the All Star team. Based on his recent performances in the Bundesliga, we would have liked him to continue his career with us after his contract expires in 2026, but in discussions with his manager over the last two months, the possibility of him joining us this summer has been raised. We are very happy that it has turned out this way, because Ivan is a player who deserves to play in the Champions League. In personal conversations, I have also found him to be a highly intelligent and ambitious player, and it means a lot to him to be closer to his family. With regard to the recent press reports, I would just like to say that his real transfer fee is nowhere near the amount reported in the press, and is less than half of it, and we are also bringing with six central players next season instead of seven, which covered the transfer fee, so we have not paid any extra costs. With regard to the player's previous injuries, I think it is important to point out that Ivan underwent a full physical test and passed all tests with 100 percent."

Welcome to Veszprém, Ivan! 

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