Filip Jícha signs for FC Barcelona

FC Barcelona and THW Kiel reach agreement for the signing of Czech full-back Filip Jícha who will join the club on a four-year deal. Czech full-back Filip Jícha has signed a deal which will take him through to the end of the 2018/19 campaign with FC Barcelona Lassa. Jícha is one of the most coveted players in European handball having been voted the best player in the world in 2010, and the former THW Kiel captain joins Barcelona to take over the left-back position. Jícha is 33 years of age and is 2.01metres tall. He is renowned for his throwing abilities and his strong leadership. The Czech began playing handball in his hometown of Pilsen in 1988 with Stary Plzenec.

In 1995, he joined Slavia Pilsen and in 2000 signed for Dukla Prague. His first move abroad was to Switzerland in 2003, to wear the colours of Otmar St. Gallen. Two years later, he moved to the German Bundesliga to join TBV Lemgo, where he won the EHF Cup 2006. It was at THW Kiel, from 2007, where Jícha really flourished. He won two Champions League honours, in 2010 and 2012, seven German league titles, five German National Cups and Super Cups and one IHF Super Globe in his spell at THW Kiel. On an individual note, he was voted the best player in the world in 2010 and Bundesliga player of the season in 2009/10. Jícha was the top scorer in the Champions League in the 2008/09 and 2009/10 seasons while he was also the leading marksman and MVP in the 2010 European Handball Championship. Jícha has made 148 appearances for the Czech national team, scoring 816 goals. In the season gone by, he played 33 matches for THW Kiel and scored 105 times.