Achille Polonara: Virtus pushing to finalize a deal for Efes forward / News - Basketnews.com

With the deadline of January 9 looming, Virtus Bologna are trying to finalize the deal to bring Achille Polonara back to Italy. The player is expected to part ways with Anadolu Efes

Credit: IMAGO/Seskim Photo-Scanpix Credit IMAGO/Seskim Photo-Scanpix

With the deadline to register players who have already played in EuroLeague in the 2022-23 season looming, Virtus Bologna are pushing to finalize a deal with power forward Achille Polonara, sources have told BasketNews.

Achille Polonara

Team:Anadolu Efes IstanbulPosition:PF, CAge:31Height:203 cmWeight:93 kgBirth place:ItalyProfileNewsStatistics

Polonara has been a target for the Italian club since this summer. However, after advanced talks with the player's entourage, in the end, Polonara opted to sign a 1+1 deal with EuroLeague reigning champions Anadolu Efes.

But so far, the Italian's forward time with Efes has been less than satisfying for both parties.

Polonara averages only 11 minutes per game in EuroLeague this season and started in only 7 games. He's been recently out of coach Ataman's rotations while also dealing with a leg injury.

After the EuroLeague game against Panathinaikos, Ergin Ataman explained Polonara's situation and revealed that the player asked to leave the Turkish side.

"Unfortunately, we couldn't get the contribution that we wanted from Polonara. This situation created unhappiness in the player. That's why his manager contacted us and said that there are clubs that want to sign him," Ataman said.

"We told him we can talk about it if the appropriate conditions are met," the Turkish head coach added. "If Polonara goes, we have alternatives."

Anadolu Efes are exploring the market for a player who can cover the 4-5 position. Among the potential candidates for that role, the Turkish team explores the situation of Chris Singleton, a source told BasketNews.

Anadolu Efes already officially announced the signing of Singleton.

In order to be eligible to play for another EuroLeague side, Achille Polonara must be registered by his new team before the beginning of EuroLeague Round 18, which starts on January 9.

The Italian player was also on the radar of Serbian side KK Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet, but now that the team has been prohibited from registering new players until February 28 by EuroLeague, they're out of the race for Polonara, a source told BasketNews.

Virtus Bologna have been looking to strengthen their frontcourt for a while now since the performances of Mouhammoud Jaiteh and Ismael Bako haven't always been on point and the team had also to deal with injuries to Toko Shengelia and Jordan Mickey.

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