The early collapse of ASVEL Villeurbanne posed an interesting puzzle for Kaunas “Žalgiris”.
The French club, managed by Tony Parker, promised a budget of 58 million euros, based on which it was assembling a star-studded roster, with Sylvain Francisco, who left a deep mark in Lithuania, expected to be its centerpiece.
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However, the French league report showed that Villeurbanne’s organization was only guaranteed a cap of 24 million euros, so the players with contracts scattered in all directions ahead of time.
One of them was the powerful 28-year-old Frenchman S. Francisco, who last year was second only to Piraeus “Olympiakos” leader Sasha Vezenkov in the EuroLeague MVP voting.
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S. Francisco became a protégé of Željko Obradović at Athens “Panathinaikos”, which assembled a dream team, although his career path could have brought him back to “Žalgiris”.
“I’m not completely disconnected, the internet works in Nida, and I follow both Spanish and Greek news portals a bit. I saw all these rumors. When the first news appeared that ASVEL was not gathering the promised budget, I said that some movements might begin. It started just a few days later. “Panathinaikos” quietly waited, probably outbid everyone they could, and Sylvain Francisco put on the green uniform,” Darius Maskoliūnas said on the 15min show PIKENROLAS.
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