By Nikos Varlas/ varlas@eurohoops.net
In every summer there are big transfers which get completed, they are announced and they are getting their share in the spotlight. However, there are always those cases of transfers which were talked about, but couldn’t happen.
So, which is the biggest “what if” this summer in Euroleague that didn’t happen? The effort of CSKA Moscow to get the best power forward of the competition and by far the more complete offensively in recent years, Giorgos Printezis.
Olympiacos and CSKA Moscow are Final Four rivals since 2012 – with only one exception, when in 2014 the Greek club couldn’t get to the semifinals – and they are two of the biggest organizations in the league. Outside the court, there’s only mutual respect and admiration.
This was proven in the past, when the two clubs got a deal that permitted to Theodoros Papaloukas to return to Olympiacos. That happened in the summer of 2008, despite the fact that “Teo” had a huge contract for one more year with CSKA.
Aggelopoulos brothers and Andrei Vatutin, the bosses of the two teams, many times got on the record in order to praise the opponent and speak about their good relations.
CSKA try to get it done!
The team of coach Itoudis tried to make a move which will make them an ever bigger favorite for the Euroleague title, to get Giorgos Printezis away from Olympiacos. According to Eurohoops sources, the Russian club was ready to give to the Greek forward a three year contract for a total of almost 6 million euros.
On the same time, the Russians informed Olympiacos about their interest and asked for the player. CSKA was ready to pay a buy out to the Reds. If the move was completed, then one of the biggest deals in the history of Euroleague would have been a reality.
Printezis didn’t negotiate
The contract of the Greek forward with Olympiacos ends at the summer of 2007. The money offered by CSKA and the total amount that he would get if the transfer was completed, will pay him a lot more than his current salary.
Printezis – who after the semifinal in Madrid stated that CSKA is a club which he can only respect and that everything can happen in any given game – didn’t want to initiate any kind of talks. He respected his contract with Olympiacos and he didn’t speak at all for this matter with CSKA.
Olympiacos didn’t gave him
Olympiacos heard what CSKA had to say and the buy out offer. The negotiations never continued after that. This probably means that Olympiacos wanted a buy out which was more than big. However this is expected, because of what Printezis means to the club and also because of his special connection with the fans.
During recent years, Olympiacos in many cases decided to part ways with players, if the financial aspect of the deal was in favor of the club. Still in Printezis case, the most possible scenario is that Olympiacos would never let him go, even if the financial gains were big.
Printezis and Khryapa stayed put…
CSKA’s managemnt once more proved that they know how to behave professionally. They wanted to make a big move, they informed Olympiacos about their intensions, because their target had a contract and when they realised that they couldn’t get Printezis, they decided to re-sign their captain, Viktor Khryapa. The veteran forward wasn’t initially on their plans for next season, but he returned in the roster with a new contract.