Manuel Zehnder, the Swiss handball player of the year, is taking the next step in his career. The player from Aargau is moving to German champions Magdeburg.
The 24-year-old has been given a two-year contract and will now also become a team-mate of goalkeeper Nikola Portner at the club. Zehnder caused a stir last season as the top scorer in the Bundesliga. He scored 277 goals in 34 games for newly promoted Eisenach, to whom he was loaned from Erlangen for a year. Zehnder moved from Suhr Aarau to Erlangen in the Bundesliga in the summer of 2022.
The signing of Manuel Zehnder is also Magdeburg's response to the injury suffered by its Swedish playmaker Felix Claar at the Olympic Games in Paris. The Bundesliga season begins on September 7. Magdeburg will play a home game against Wetzlar.
The contract with the 2023 Champions League winners eliminates a potential legal dispute for Zehnder. He was supposed to return to Erlangen after his loan, but Zehnder did not want to. Magdeburg is therefore likely to have paid a transfer fee.
