Cañellas to make move from Kiel to Vardar

Left back Joan Cañellas will leave THW Kiel earlier than expected.

Despite a valid contract until 2017, the 2013 World Champion will join Macedonian champion and VELUX EHF Champions League participant Vardar Skopje from June onwards. 

THW Kiel agreed to dissolve the contract one year before expiration: “Joan got a long-term offer, so we found a solution,” said Kiel’s manager Thorsten Storm.

Cañellas (29) signed a new three-year contract with Vardar, where he will be the fourth Spanish national team player after Jorge Maqueda, Alex Dujshebaev and Arpad Sterbik.

Vardar are coached by Spaniard Raul Gonzalez, who had been in the coaching staff of Ciudad Real, when Cañellas was a player there.

In 2013, Cañellas transferred from Atletico Madrid to Hamburg, and after only one season he moved northwards to Kiel. He was silver medalist at the  EHF EURO 2016 in Poland and bronze medalist and top scorer of the EHF EURO 2014 in Denmark.

According to the Vardar website, Cañellas had visited Skopje last weekend to sign the contract.

“Joan’s quality will raise the level of the whole team, and his attributes on and off the court are a perfect reference,” said Vardar manager Davor Stojanoski.

Kiel has already signed a new left back from the start of the new season: Swedish talent Lukas Nilsson (19), arriving from EHF Cup participant Ystad. In other news German international Christian Dissinger has extended his contract up until 2020.