By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Some hours before the clash between Unicaja Malaga and Real Madrid in the ACB, the president of the Andalusian team Antonio Jesús López Nieto denied any kind of contact between the Blancos and Alberto Diaz, leader of Ibon Navarro’s team.
“Unicaja does not consider negotiating anything. Alberto Díaz is our player, he has a one-year contract and a clause. We are not going to negotiate. Formally we have not received any offer or any contact. Alberto has not let us know anything either. He is the player of our DNA. It does not occur to us to negotiate his clause, for sure. 200%. We would never accept a negotiation of Alberto Díaz’s clause. It is one of the intrinsic values of this club”, he said.
Therefore, as Unicaja’s president said, Real Madrid will have to pay the release clause of Alberto Diaz to have him starting from next season. However, the clause is around 850.000 euros, so it doesn’t look easy for the reigning ACB champions.
López Nieto also talked about Unicaja’s several contract extensions for the next few seasons. “When the team had great successes there was a certain continuity of players who spent 2-3 seasons in that glorious three-year period of 2005, 2006, and 2007. In the past, it was easier because there were more national players. In modern basketball, it is more complicated. Setting up a human group that adds as much as the one we have now is very complicated. That is why we have made the effort from the club together with our sponsors and owners, which are the Unicaja Foundation and bank, to maintain this squad for a time that can give even more optimal results”, Unicaja’s president added.
Unicaja Malaga will play its first-ever Basketball Champions League Final Four on May 12-14 at home, playing the semifinal against Telekom Baskets Bonn. The other semifinal will see Lenovo Tenerife going up against Hapoel Jerusalem.
PHOTO CREDIT: Basketball Champions League