By Stavros Barbarousis/ info@eurohoops.net
Victor Claver is approaching Panathinaikos. The Greek club is deepening its efforts to sign the Spanish forward and has the upper hand, even though the battle for him is far from over.
Panathinaikos is not the only team that wants to sign the 27-year old player. Not surprising, considering the fact that he is one of the top players in his position in Europe.
Anadolu Efes is the Greens’ major opponent right now for Claver. Dario Saric’s departure for the Philadelphia 76ers has left a major “gap” in the “4” position of the team and Claver is the ideal replacement of the Croatian forward in Velimir Perasovic‘s plans. The Turkish team wants to attract the player with an amount of money close to the sum that Saric received in Efes and can easily offer even more, since they received $1 million from the 76ers, as his buy out.
But the recent political developments in Turkey is a factor that might tip the scales in favor of Panathinaikos and push Claver away from Efes.
Another team that might appear interested in Claver is Barcelona. He had an excellent cooperation last year with Giorgos Bartzokas in Lokomotiv Kuban’s quite successful season, with the Spanish forward being one of the most important players that led the Russian club to the Euroleague Final Four. The Greek coach wants to enlist Claver but the “thorn” on the side of the possible cooperation comes from Valencia, since Barcelona must pay a large amount of money to the “Bats” in order to get his rights.
All the above make Panathinaikos the grand favorite to sign of Victor Claver. If the case has a positive outcome, then the frontline of the Greek team will become even more powerful than it is now, after the signings of Giannis Bourousis and Chris Singleton.