The big five: top transfers in the EHF Champions League Women

The summer of 2024 was no different and brought plenty of transfers for 16 teams in the EHF Champions League 2024/25 season with several high-profile moves that promise to impact the upcoming season. We tried to take the list down to the five names which made the fans happy.

5. Léna Grandveau (Neptunes de Nantes to Metz Handball)
One of the rising stars of French handball, Léna Grandveau has been pivotal in Nantes' successes in recent years. The 21-year-old centre back stepped on the scene at the W17 EHF EURO 2019 in Slovenia and has since made progress with each season. Grandveau joined Neptunes de Nantes in 2022 and led the club through two successful EHF European League seasons with 83 goals and a bronze medal at the EHF Finals 2024.

The summer of 2024 went almost perfectly for Grandveau. After winning a silver medal with France at the Olympic Games 2024, she signed a contract with Metz Handball and made another huge step in her career. After Neptunes de Nantes hit financial problems, many players and coaches found new clubs and Metz grabbed the opportunity to bring one of the greatest talents in the country, as she could be a key player in the future. The centre back is a strong piece of the puzzle for coach Emmanuel Mayonnade.

4. Gabriela Moreschi (HB Ludwigsburg to CSM Bucuresti)
Brazilian goalkeeper Gabriela Moreschi has been under the spotlight and with good reason. In the 2023/24 season, she was paramount for HB Ludwigsburg (former SG BBM Bietigheim) with 216 saves at 31.7 per cent save efficiency. Her performances helped the club become the first-ever German finalists and runners-up at the EHF FINAL4, with her later becoming also the leader of Brazil's national team at the Paris 2024 Olympics.

With Laura Glauser moving to FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria, Moreschi's agility and sharp reflexes will be one of the key assets for the Romanian club and will make a great duo between the posts with Evelina Eriksson. The strong shot-stopper will give her best to make her fifth EHF Champions League Women a memorable one, while CSM Bucuresti seek their way back to the season pinnacle in Budapest for the first time since the 2017/18 season.

3. Laura Glauser (CSM Bucuresti to FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria)
The All-star goalkeeper of the Olympic Games in 2024 is making a comeback to Hungary after previously playing for Győri Audi ETO KC in the 2020/21 and 2021/22 seasons. A seasoned French international joins the ranks to help improve FTC's defence even further, as the Hungarian champions are eager to get back to the EHF FINAL4. 

Glauser's vast experience and ability to provide crucial saves in high-stakes games have been tested for two seasons at CSM Bucuresti, and the 31-year-old French international finished the 2023/24 season with 135 saves and 33.76 per cent save efficiency. Playing her 12th EHF Champions League Women season, Glauser will have the help of Blanka Böde-Bíró and Kinga Janurik, as FTC will have a challenging Hungarian league to play with Győri wanting to take back the title.

2. Tamara Horacek (Neptunes de Nantes to Krim Mercator Ljubljana)
After playing at the EHF Finals 2024 and bidding farewell to Neptunes de Nantes with a bronze medal, Horacek joined the ambitious Slovenian team. The Croatian-born French international has been a central figure for both Nantes and France’s national team, adding an Olympic silver to her biography in the summer of 2024.

Krim will be only her second club outside of France, and the versatile back player could be what was missing for Dragan Adžic's team to take a step forward in the EHF Champions League Women. Dictating the pace and being a positive figure on and off of the court, Horacek will blend well in Slovenia's capital as she is making her return to Europe's top flight. In her last two EHF Champions League Women seasons, in 2021/22 and 2022/23, Horacek netted 104 times.

1. Helle Thomsen (Neptunes de Nantes to CSM Bucuresti)
CSM Bucuresti surprised everyone when they parted ways with Adrian Vasile in May 2024, right before the end of the 2023/24 season. Even though they raised the trophy in Romania, they failed to secure an EHF FINAL4 ticket after being eliminated in the quarter-finals by FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria. However, CSM were on the move and recruited their 2017/18 head coach – Helle Thomsen.

Experienced head coach Thomsen spent most of the 2017/18 season with CSM, only to depart the club in March 2018, just before the quarter-finals of the EHF Champions League Women. However, her knowledge and work with the club helped the Romanian side to later reach the EHF FINAL4. The Danish expert also won the Cup Winners’ Cup in 2015, European silver and World Championship bronze with the Netherlands and most recently led Nantes to the EHF Finals 2024, saying goodbye to the French side with a bronze medal. Both CSM and Helle share satisfaction with their new partnership. Thomsen's energy and passion for handball add up to the ability to get the best out of her players while giving a fresh approach to the team with strong names in the squad.

Photos © Anze Malovrh / kolektiff (main and in-text), @handballfoto Kenneth McDowell (Léna Grandveau), Kevin Clement (Laura Glauser), Lau Nielsen (Gabriela Moreschi in-text)