Ganbold Ganbayar Joins FC Csákvár

Image property of Aqvital FC Csákvár

After four years working his way through the youth ranks to the reserve team of Puskás Akadémia in Hungary, it has been announced that Mongolian wunderkind Ganbold Ganbayar has signed for Aqvital FC Csákvár of the Nemzeti Bajnokság II, the second division in that country.

Ganbayar originally traveled to Hungary to join Puskás in 2016 as part of an affiliation between the club and the Mongolian Football Federation. There have been two players selected for training stints every year since. Ganbayar, however, is the only player so far ever offered a contract at the end of the training period.

After playing for the club's under-17 and under-20 sides, including in the 2017 Puskás Cup in which his performance was key to defeating German giants FC Bayern Munich, he worked his way into the reserve team for the 2018-19 NB III season. Over his two years with the second team, he made 41 league appearances, scoring 12 goals.

Now Ganbayar finally has a chance to play first-team football after joining Aqvital FC Csákvár earlier this summer.

He played several pre-season friendly matches for the club against other Hungarian opponents after signing. On 8 July, in his first match with Csákvár, he opened his scoring account in a 6-0 thrashing of FC Tatabánya.

FC Csákvár kicked off its 2020-21 NB II season yesterday against Gyirmót FC. Despite the disappointing 0-3 defeat, Ganbayar finally played first team football in Europe after coming on as a half-time substitute for Patrik Posztobányi and created a scoring chance late in the match.

Competition in the NB II this year is stiff. While it will make competing in the league difficult, it will also provide Ganbayar with experience against top-quality clubs. Debrecen, Gyirmót, Győri, Pécs, and Vasas are all in the league this season and have long histories in the top flight and UEFA competitions.

Despite joining Csákvár, Ganbayar's time with Puskás Akadémia is not necessarily over. In fact, Csákvár is an affiliate of Puskás which the larger club utilizes for playing opportunities for young players. Hungarian league rules prevent clubs from owning other clubs only one tier below them. That is one reason why Puskás Akadémia II currently plays in the NB III. With this affiliation, Puskás reserve players can gain NB II experience rather than NB III. Ganbayar joins 15 other players currently at the club who have played for Puskás in the past or are currently on loan from them.

Whether Ganbayar is still on the club's first-team radar is still to be seen, but at the age of only 19, he has plenty of growth and achievements still to come.