Football League World
·11 June 2021
Football League World
·11 June 2021
After finishing his domestic season with Bristol City, midfielder Adam Nagy was called up to the Hungarian national side ahead of the European Championships this year.
The 25-year-old was a semi-regular player at Ashton Gate last season and as a valuable squad member for Hungary boss Marco Rossi, Nagy is likely to be involved in some shape or form in this year’s tournament.
The national side face a daunting task in Group F as they take on 2018 world champions France, 2014 World Cup winners Germany and Euro 2016 champions Portugal in Euro 2020’s very own ‘group of death’.
However, as underdogs in the tournament regardless of their group, this could be a real opportunity not just for manager Rossi and the whole squad collectively, but also individual players too.
One of those players is Adam Nagy – and with the midfielder – you feel he hasn’t yet fulfilled his potential after performing well in the last European Championships.
His notable involvement in that tournament makes it seem like the Hungarian has been around forever, but at 25, he still has a long way to go in his career.
After joining Bristol City in August 2019, with Nagy failing to retain his first team place at Italian side Bologna, he’s had a fairly mixed time in England and hasn’t made the impact he will have desired in the second tier.
However, this year’s Euros could potentially be career-defining for the Robins midfielder.
If the 25-year-old is heavily involved and excels, against the odds, against some of the world’s best teams in front of the TV cameras, clubs around the world may start to take an interest.
With his contract due to expire next summer, Nigel Pearson’s side may have missed a trick by not extending his deal beyond 2022 ahead of the summer.
If they had extended his contract, Bristol City would have had the option of either retaining a quality player or maximising their profit on a player who has had a reasonably average time with the Robins.
Considering he has had this mixed time at Ashton Gate, many fans will argue that’s a case against renewing his deal.
However, if Hungary somehow ‘do a Costa Rica’ in getting through to the knockout phases against all odds and Nagy is a major part of that, City face a tough choice: sell him at a cut-price or risking losing him for free in the future.