This year, the activities in the water polo transfer market started earlier than it is usual, because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The series of news about transfers was opened late in April when Andrija Prlainovic’s announced that he joined Marseille.
Today, we publish the first summary of the transfers of European water polo players realized this year.
Italy
The best Italian club Pro Recco will, obviously, reduce the number of players. A lot of stars left the club: Filip Filipovic, Andro Buslje, Joseph Kayes, Vincenzo Renzuto Iodice… Head coach Ratko Rudic retired, and he will be replaced by Gabriel Hernandez. Pro Recco, hasn’t brought many new players, but the transfer market probably still isn’t finished for Pro Recco.
Brescia and Telimar Palermo have been very active regarding transfers. Brescia has four important reinforcements: Vincenzo Dolce (Sport Management), Angelos Vlachopoulos (Eger), Edoardo Di Somma (Pro Recco), Djordje Lazic (Szolnok), but four players left the club.
Telimar Palermo, with a new coach Marco Baldineti, will be much stronger than in the previous season. The situation in Sport Management is completely different. Eight players and head coach Baldineti departed, while the club still hasn’t reinforcements.
Pro Recco
Arrivals: head coach Gabriel Hernandez, Nicholas Presciutti (Brescia), Nicolo Figari (Brescia), Tomaso Negri (Posillipo)
Renewed contract: Dusan Mandic.
Departures: head coach Ratko Rudic (retired), Edoardo Di Somma (Brescia), Francesco Massaro (Savona, on loan), Andrea Fondelli (Savona, on loan), FIlip FIlipovic, Andro Buslje, Joseph Kayes, Vincenczo Renzuto Iodice.
Brescia
Arrivals: Vincenzo Dolce (Sport Management), Angelos Vlachopoulos (Eger), Edoardo Di Somma (Pro Recco), Djordje Lazic (Szolnok).
Renewed contract: Marco Del Lungo.
Departures: Alessandro Nora (Quinto), Nicolo Figari (Pro Recco), Nicholas Presciutti (Pro Recco), Antonio Buha.
Savona
Arrivals: Andrea Fondelli (Pro Recco, loan), Francesco Massaro (Pro Recco, loan), Lorenzo Bruni (Sport Management).
Renewed contract: head coach Alberto Angelini, Guillermo Molina.
Departures: Lorenzo Bianco.
Sport Management
Departures: head coach Marco Baldineti (Telimar Palermo), Vincenzo Dolce (Brescia), Riccardo Lo Dico, Gianmarco Nicosia, Luca Damonte (all Telimar Palermo), Lorenzo Bruni (Savona), Cristiano Mirarchi (Ortigia), Giacomo Lanzoni (Quinto), Giuseppe Valentino (Strasbourg).
Ortigia
Arrivals: Cristiano Mirarchi (Sport Management)
Renewed contracts: head coach Stefano Piccardo, Stefano Tempesti.
Telimar Palermo
Arrivals: head coach Marco Baldineti (Sport Management), Gianmarco Nicosia, Riccardo Lo Dico, Luca Damonte (all three Sport Management), Luca Marziali (Posillipo), Andrija Vlahovic (Solaris).
Departures: head coach Pierluigi Formiconi, Matthew Zammit, Jovan Saric, Dragan Draskovic, Raffaele Maddaluno.
Posillipo
Departures: Luca Marziali (Telimar Palermo), Tomaso Negri (Pro Recco)
Trieste
Renewed contract: Nemanja Vico.
Departures: Drasko Gogov, Niccolo Rochi, Elia Spadoni, Lorenzo Zadeu, Federico Panerai.
Quinto
Arrivals: Alessandro Nora (Brescia), Giacomo Lanzoni (Sport Management), Francesco Brambilla (Metanopoli).
Departures: Thomas Tabbiani (Anzio Waterpolis) Alex Giorgetti, Robin Lindhout.
Salerno
Arrivals: Umberto Esposito (Canottieri Naples)
Renewed contract: Mislav Tomasic.
Departures: Cristian Gandini.
Canottieri Naples
Arrivals: head coach Enzo Massa.
Departures: head coach Christian Andre, Umberto Esposito (Salerno), Gabriele Vassallo (Anzio Waterpolis).
Florentia
Departures: head coach Roberto Tofani
Hungary
There will be no many foreigners in the Hungarian clubs next season. OSC, Eger, Szentes, BVSC…. will have exclusively Hungarian players.
Vasas, with a new sponsor, enters the new season very ambitious. The club brought seven reinforcements and a new coach Lajos Vad.
There were a lot of changes in Miskolc and Szolnok, as in Vasas.
OSC Budapest fired all foreigners, but it managed to keep the members of the Hungarian national team (Manhercz, Erdelyi, Harai). Daniel Varga replaced Lajos Vad on OSC’s bench.
Ferencvaros still hasn’t presented a new team, but it seems that it won’t be a lot of arrivals and departures.
Eger is struggling to survive, but the Government’s help (300 million forints) should help the club, which was founded 110 years ago.
Szolnok
Arrivals: Gergo Kovacs (OSC), Adam Nagy (Miskolc), Akos Konarik (UVSE)
Departures: Kristof Varnai (OSC), Bence Batori, Kristof Szatmari (both Vasas), Djordje Lazic (Brescia), Viktor Rasovic, Gavril Subotic.
Vasas
Arrivals: head coach Lajos Vad (OSC), Branislav Mitrovic, Drasko Brguljan, Sava Randjelovic (all OSC Budapest), Bence Batori, Kristof Szatmari (both Szolnok), Viktor Vadovics (Miskolc), Krisztian Bedo (Noisy-le-Sec).
Departures: Slobodan Nikic (retired), David Miklos Levante, Bela Torok, Simon Vogel…
Eger
Arrivals: Lorincz Balint (Miskolc).
Departures: head coach Norbert Dabrowski (BVSC sports director), Erik Csacsovsky (OSC), Denes Dorian Lukacs, Marton Magyar (both Miskolc), Angelos Vlachopoulos (Brescia), Strahinja Rasovic, Nikola Murisic.
OSC Budapest
Arrivals: head coach Daniel Varga, Kristof Varnai (Szolnok), Erik Csacsovsky (Eger), Dome Dala (UVSE)
Departures: head coach Lajos Vad (Vasas), Andrija Prlainovic (Marseille), Lukas Seman (Miskolc), Gergo Kovacs (Szolnok),Branislav Mitrovic (Vasas), Drasko Brguljan (Vasas), Sava Randjelovic (Vasas), Nemanja Ubovic (Sabadell), Aleksa Ukropina.
Miskolc
Arrivals: head coach Istvan Kis (he was an assistant coach in the last season) Lukas Seman (OSC), Tomas Hoferica (Reims), Denes Dorian Lukas, Marton Magyar (both Eger), Lukacs Abel (Honved), Richard Berki (Szeged), and Barnabas Biros (Kaposvar).
Departures: head coach Laszlo Vidumanszky , Sasa Misic (Strasbourg), Viktor Vadovics (Vasas), Lorincz Balint (Eger), Adam Nagy (Szolnok), Bojan Banicevic (Tourcoing, Lille), Ognjen Stojanovic, Milos Milicic,Dimitrije Krijestorac, Edoardo Manzi.
Szentes
Arrivals: Bence Fulop (Honved), Marton Lajko (BVSC), Janos Takacs (AVUS Szombathely)
Departures: Marton Nagy, Robert Gergelyfi, Athanasios Chrysopathis.
UVSE
Arrivals: head coach Balazs Vince
Departures: head coach Tibor Benedek (retired), Dome Dala (OSC Budapest), Akos Konarik (Szolnok).
France
French clubs invest a lot in new players. Several players from ex-Yugoslavia countries and Italian Valentino arrive in France.
Marseille, the Champions League wild-card holder, signed contracts with Andrija Prlainovic, one of the best world’s players, and two members of the national team of Montenegro Dejan Lazovic (goalkeeper) and Vladan Spaic, but the list of the reinforcements still hasn’t be completed. Milos Scepanovic, Marseille’s former goalkeeper, replaced Marc Ameldrich on the bench.
Strasbourg, Noisy-le-Sec, Tourcoing also intensively renovate their teams.
Marseille
Arrivals: head coach Milos Scepanovic, Andrija Prlainovic (OSC Budapest), Dejan Lazovic (Budva), Vladan Spaic (Jadran Herceg Novi).
Departures: head coach Marc Ameldrich, Milos Spepanovic (retired), Roman Blary (retired).
Pays d’Aix
Renewed contract: Slaven Kandic.
Strasbourg
Arrivals: Sasa Misic (Miskolc), GIuseppe Valentino (Sport Management).
Departures: Arnaud Jablonski (retired), Nikola Sutic, Marko Bratic, Boris Letica, and Ivo Begovic.
Noisy-le-Sec
Arrivals: head coach Stefan Ciric, Ivan Krapic (Jadran Split), David Caumette (Olympic, Nice).
Departures: head coach Johnatan Moriame (became a sports director), Krisztian Bedo (Vasas).
Tourcoing Lille
Arrivals: Bojan Banicevic (Miskolc), Charles Cannone, Cedric Rocchieta, Adrien Croetti, Quentin Vanhille (all Douai), Theo Averna (Sete).
Departures: Julien Crosetti (Racing), Jesse Koopman, Jesse Nispeling, Heremie Blanchard, Christos Papaostolou.
Spain
Big transfers in Spain are yet to happen, but Barcelona already did a great job, by signing a contract with Spain’s center-forward Roger Tahull. Nemanja Ubovic joined Sabadell.
Barceloneta
Departures: Roger Tahull (Barcelona), Miguel Linares (retired)
Barcelona
Arrivals: Roger Tahull (Barceloneta)
Sabadell
Arrivals: Nemanja Ubovic (OSC Budapest)
Departures: Marko Avramovic.
Greece
The leagues of Greece and Croatia haven’t been canceled. The national championships will be finished, so the situation in the transfer market is still pretty quiet.
Olympiacos
Departures: Ivan Buljubasic.
Croatia
Jug Dubrovnik
Renewed contracts: Luka Loncar, Toni Popadic
Germany
Spandau 04
Departures: Ben Reibel (ASC Duisburg)
ASC Duisburg
Arrivals: Ben Reibel (Spandau 04)
All news about transfers you can find HERE
