Two veterans lead the list of late entries

Vedran Zrnic and Egor Evdokimov are about to make a comeback to the VELUX EHF Champions League soon as both the former world and Olympic champion from Croatia and the seasoned veteran from Russia shine on the most recent list of the late entries. In total, six clubs added eight new names to their squads before the last deadline in this year expired on Tuesday night.

Croatian icon to Plock

The right-winger Zrnic, who won five medals at the major international tournaments as a member of the golden Croatian generation, signed a contract with Orlen Wisla Plock, which should hold him in Poland at least until the end of this season.

The 34-year-old spent last seven seasons in VfL Gummersbach and lifted three European trophies with them - the EHF Cup in 2009 and the Cup Winners' Cup in 2010 and 2011 (pictured right).

“He is one of the icons of Croatian handball and his transfer has not only a sporting but also a marketing dimension. His arrival should increase the rivalry on the right wing position,” Plock chairman Robert Raczkowski said for the official club website.

The current top scorer of the VELUX EHF Champions League (29 goals in four matches) Valentin Ghionea is a starter on the right wing position.

Russian bear to Motor

Evdokimov will enter the Europe’s premium club competition in a fourth different uniform as he has already had stints with Chekhovskie Medvedi, Ciudad Real and Dinamo Minsk in the past.

The best season of the 31-year-old line player was in 2009/10 when he scored 35 goals and helped Ciudad Real to reach the first edition of the VELUX EHF FINAL4. In 2005/06 he won the Cup Winners’ Cup with Chekhov.

“Every team in our group can surprise and everything will be decided on court. For me the most important is that my new club desires to qualify for the Last 16,” Evdokimov said for the club’s website.

He might face another late entry in the upcoming game in Group A as St. Petersburg HC added Grigory Blagonadezhdin, a former right back of Portovik Yuzhny and Brest Meshkov.

The Serbian Milan Corovic returns to RK Metalurg, where he already played one season (2006/07).

Four youngsters might get a glimpse of the European top flight as Felix Kasch joined the line-up of HK Drott Halmstad and FC Porto bolstered their squad by three new names Ricardo Mourao, Miguel Martins and a Cuban player Alexis Hernandez Borges.

The next deadline for late entries will expire on 4 February and the clubs will be able to use new players from Round 8 on.