This post has been a long time coming. A little bit of backstory: 2-3 years ago when starting a new Football Manager save, I found Zsombor Gruber in the Puskas Akademia youth ranks, took him with me when I left Puskas Akademia, and had him captain my Bodø/Glimt side to three UCL titles. Naturally as one does, I decided to track his progress in real life!

Born on 7 September 2004 in Győr, Hungary (Hungary’s 6th-largest city, about halfway between Budapest and Vienna), Zsombor Gruber joined the Győr academy as a young boy. At the age of 13, he was scouted by Puskas Akademia and brought into their academy. An attacker who can play on either wing, as a #10, or as a striker, Gruber started being selected for the Hungarian youth national teams at age 15. His development path actually saw him spend a year in Switzerland, at the Basel academy on loan from Puskas Akademia. If you don’t know, Basel have seen several players go on to become top European stars after developing in Switzerland – Mohamed Salah, for one. Gruber debuted for Puskas Akademia’s senior team at age 17, and in his first full season at senior level played >1100 minutes, and started 12 matches, scoring 3 goals.

In the 2023-24 season, Zsombor Gruber contributed 3 goals and an assist in ~650 minutes for Puskas Akademia, before being loaned to fellow NB I side Zalaegerszeg, where he scored another 3 goals in <300 minutes. In the summer, Hungary’s top club, Ferencvaros, signed Gruber, seeing his potential, and loaned him to MTK Budapest at the start of the 2024-25 season. This would allow him to get some more playing time, essentially in the backyard of Ferencvaros, as both clubs are from the Budapest area.

Despite suffering a thigh injury at MTK which forced him out for 5 weeks of the season, Gruber contributed a goal contribution every other game which led to Ferencvaros recalling him from loan for the second half of the season. This spell would see Gruber score his first goal for Ferencvaros, as well as gain the experience of being a part of a title-winning squad. That leads us to this year. Former Spurs legend Robbie Keane is the new manager at Ferencvaros, and he seems to see the potential in Gruber that I and others have. So far, Zsombor has 3 goals and 3 assists in the first 5 matches for Ferencvaros this season, including providing an assist just minutes after being subbed on in Champions League qualifiers to secure Ferencvaros passage to the final qualification round. Providing a goal contribution every 43 minutes so far, this is looking like the start of Zsombor Gruber’s breakout season with Ferencvaros. If he didn’t have the full trust of his manager before, he is surely earning it with his performances. I am confident that Gruber’s potential is to be a Champions League quality player.

As mentioned previously, he is a versatile player who can play across the front 4 positions. This means that while he is playing as a striker now (although operating more in a second striker role alongside Barnabas Varga), he could be coached into a winger or #10 long term, depending on the system that he goes to next. On 19 November 2024, Gruber received his first callup to the Hungarian senior team, and debuted at the Puskas Arena against Germany in a 1-1 draw. There is somewhat of a gap in generations in Hungary’s national team striker ranks. Barnabas Varga is 30 years old, and all other forwards currently called up to the Hungarian team are 25 or older. Then there is Zsombor Gruber, who will turn 21 in a month’s time. None of the players in the 25-28 age range have really solidified their place in Hungary’s attack, so there is a pathway for Gruber to continue to receive important developmental minutes for the senior national team.

As a technically strong player who has good pace and off the ball runs, but also the vision to pick out a pass, I believe that Gruber’s best role long term is either as an inside forward role (playing as a winger), or as a second-striker. While 183cm tall, he is not a traditional target forward, with a build that leans more into agility and speed than pure strength. His potential is to play in a Top 5 league, at the Champions League level. Also, Hungarian clubs can rarely request transfer fees in the 10’s of millions of euros, so acquiring Gruber would be a relatively cheap purchase (currently valued between 1 – 3 million, if I had to estimate; Transfermarkt has not updated his valuation since last season).

A very exciting prospect, a motivated and humble individual, Zsombor Gruber looks set for big things in the future. Whether that is as a homegrown star at Ferencvaros, or a move abroad, only time will tell.

One thing is for certain: Zsombor Gruber is One to Watch.