After being let go by Hungarian Champions League club Pick Szeged, there has been speculation about where Jim Gottfridsson's career would go. On Tuesday morning, the answer came: it will continue with parent club IFK Ystad.
"I am very grateful for all the offers I have received from different professional clubs. But I felt that I wanted to do something fun and follow my heart," Gottfridsson tells TT.
National team door open
The move to his hometown of Ystad means playing in Allsvenskan, the Swedish second division. Despite a step down in the handball hierarchy, 33-year-old Gottfridsson - with 190 senior internationals under his belt - does not see the move as an obstacle to the national team.
"I'm probably one of the few players in the last twelve years who hasn't run around saying no or saying yes when I feel like it. I'm a player who has always said yes, always been available, regardless of whether I've had a heavily pregnant wife or if I've had feelings," says Gottfridsson.
I'm not in a position where I can say I won't play for the national team anymore.
Sweden's national team coach Michael Apelgren is not closing the door either.
"We don't want to paint ourselves into a corner where we say, if you play in the Allsvenskan you can't play in the national team. When we select a squad, we look at the overall picture, who you're competing with, what the performances have been like and what we as a team need," says Apelgren.
How is a performance in the Swedish top flight valued compared with those who play in significantly better leagues?
"We'll see. Our task is to select the squad that we believe is best suited to winning medals," says Apelgren.
Unusual step
A move to the Allsvenskan may be seen as an unusual step for a player who was voted the world's best handball player in 2022 and has won two German league titles, the Champions League with Flensburg and the European Championship with Sweden, among other things. But according to Gottfridsson himself, he is not moving home to settle down.
"I'm not coming home to finish anything. I'm home to give back and be part of a journey that I think is really cool," says Gottfridsson.
I am here to take my handball club to the handball league and develop my fellow players every day.
