Earlier this week, Hungarian goalkeeper Krisztian Hegyi swapped one Daniel Kretinsky club for another; leaving West Ham United for Sparta Prague.
Seven years after moving to England from Szombathelyi Haladas in his homeland, Hegyi touched down in the Czech capital while joining Sparta on a permanent transfer some 48 hours ago.
It has been suggested that Daniel Kretinsky helped make the transfer happen. The Czech billionaire recently injected £90 million into West Ham United while increasing his share to 43 per cent.
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Kretinsky is also a co-owner at a Sparta Prague side who may give Krisztian Hegyi the chance to nail down a starting spot after a series of loan spells at the likes of Motherwell, Den Bosch, Stevenage and MTK Budapest.
Former West Ham United coach Xavi Valero was a big Krisztian Hegyi fan
Interestingly, former Hammers goalkeeping coach Xavi Valero is reported to have rated Hegyi extremely highly. According to Laszlo Borsos, a Hungarian reporter speaking to Sport, Valero felt that Hegyi could follow in the footsteps of compatriot and RB Leipzig glovesman Peter Gulacsi.
“I would say it’s a good transfer [for Sparta Prague],” says Borsos.
“Valero considered Krisztian to be a similar promise to Gulacsi. If he can do at least half of what he can, he could easily be the number one [Hungarian goalkeeper] in the future.”
Like Hegyi, Gulacsi left England without making a single senior appearance outside of loan spells. He swapped Liverpool for Red Bull Salzburg before making the leap to Leipzig.
A legendary figure at the Bundesliga giants these days, Gulacsi would go on to help Leipzig pick up a pair of DFB Pokal titles while establishing himself as one of the better goalkeepers in European football.
Hegyi leaves as Fin Herrick and Mason Terry look to impress
Funnily enough, Valero is now working as a goalkeeping coach at Gulacsi’s old employers, Liverpool.
“[Hegyi] is a real pro with a great mindset,” adds Borsos. “From my personal experience in interviews, I consider him an intelligent guy. He’s confident, but at the same time, he’s down to earth. He has great reflexes, sure hands, and he’s also great with his feet.
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“The only thing that didn’t look so good was his occasional arguments with defenders. Maybe they were a bit too theatrical, although it wasn’t always his fault.”
A couple of less-successful loans, plus some injury issues, arguably impacted Hegyi’s development while Valero left West Ham at the end of the 2024/25 campaign. Finlay Herrick now appears well-placed to become Mads Hermansen’s back-up, with Alphonse Areola’s future uncertain.
Mason Terry appears to have a very bright future as well, securing the Player of the Year award during a terrific stint with Braintree Town.
“We had a plan to bring in a goalkeeper in this transfer window for a long time,” says Tomas Rosicky, the former Borussia Dortmund and Arsenal playmaker who now works as the sporting director at Sparta Prague. “We had enough time and many alternatives were offered to us.
“Of all the options we had, we chose Krisztian because he is a goalkeeper with very good physical qualities, who chooses the right positions when catching, has good reflexes on the goal line and can deal with crossed balls.
“At the same time, he tries to be constructive, and we also include good organisation and communication among his positive skills.”
“We have known Krisztian since 2023, when I first saw him with my own eyes,” adds David Zikta, their head of goalkeeping. “He is a young and ambitious boy whose development we have been following for a long time.
“He still has room to move and grow, but he already meets the requirements that we imagine in a member of the AC Sparta Prague first-team.”
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