10.05.2016, 01:08
Crossing the fingers for his future club

NEWS FEATURE: Kiel’s left wing Dominik Klein hopes for an EHF Cup Final of Nantes versus Göppingen.

Crossing the fingers for his future club

Dominik Klein is in the eye of the hurricane of the huge left wing rotation for the next season: As Valero Rivera will transfer from HBC Nantes to FC Barcelona Lassa, Klein will join Nantes and his place at THW Kiel will be taken by Austrian Raul Santos.

And as Uwe Gensheimer will play for Paris Saint-Germain Handball next season, Barcelona’s Icelandic Gudjon Valur Sigurdsson will return to Rhein-Neckar Löwen to replace Gensheimer.

While his current team THW Kiel – for which he played ten years now – have qualified for the VELUX EHF FINAL4, Klein’s future club HBC Nantes will host and participate in the EHF Cup Finals next weekend.

"Of course I will follow the event and of course I cross fingers for Nantes," says the three time EHF Champions League winner. For him, a perfect final would be Nantes against Frisch Auf Göppingen.

Nantes will definitely be part of a European Cup competition next season, but Klein still hopes that it might be the VELUX EHF Champions League. "The club management is highly professional, the club is highly ambitious – the same am I," explains Klein, who was named the EHF Player of the Month for his April performances.

After Kiel made it again to the VELUX EHF FINAL4 – also thanks to Klein’s overall 14 goals in the quarter-finals against Barcelona – Nantes coach Thierry Anti congratulated his upcoming player: "I really liked this message and of course I wish him and his team all the best for the FINAL4.

"I guess that thanks to the home advantage and our frenetic fans, Nantes will be the favourite for winning the trophy. But like in Cologne, I expect very close matches in Nantes."

The EHF Cup Finals' host will face the Spanish side Fraikin BM Granollers in the semi-final, while Kiel will lock the horns with MVM Veszprém.

And for the respective Sundays of both tournaments, Klein has a dream: "The best possible headline would be: After winning the Champions League for the fourth time, Dominik Klein joins the newly crowned EHF Cup winners."

Les premiers mots de Dominik Klein ! von HBCNantes

TEXT: Björn Pazen / es