Virtus CEO Luca Baraldi believes Tornike Shengelia will stay in Bologna / News - Basketnews.com

Virtus Bologna CEO Luca Baraldi talked about Tornike Shengelia, his injury, and next season's focus on the EuroLeague in a pre-season press conference.

Credit: ZUMAPRESS.com-Scanpix Credit ZUMAPRESS.com-Scanpix

Tornike Sheneglia suffered a shoulder fracture injury representing Georgia in Wednesday's game against the Netherlands for the 2023 World Cup qualifiers. Despite the injury, Virtus Bologna CEO Luca Baraldi still hopes and believes Shenegelia will stay with Virtus for the next season.

Tornike Shengelia

Position:PFAge:30Height:206 cmWeight:103 kgBirth place:Tbilisi, GeorgiaProfileNewsStatistics

On Thursday Baraldi spoke at a pre-season conference about the situation with Shengelia.

"We have been working for weeks. I believe he [Shengelia] stays here, but we haven't signed anything," Baraldi revealed.

"It just depends on him: he has a family, three children, he is a Georgian man that lives in Spain but loves Bologna and values this club," Baraldi added.

"Now this injury. I believe he will arrive in Italy shortly: He is a serious man, I believe he will choose to be treated here," said Baraldi.

Virtus CEO also revealed that some of the core players might play less in the Italian league to be rested for EuroLeague games next season.

"We bet a lot on EuroLeague. It is appropriate to have two teams with players playing in the [Italian] league and much less in Europe," said Baraldi.

"I hope it is appreciated that we have also invested in young players. Furthermore, we will have two new signings similar to [Awudu] Abass and [Nico] Mannion," Baraldi explained.

During the press conference, Baraldi also sent some subliminal messages to Olimpia Milan and their situation with Kevin Pangos and Johannes Voigtmann.

"Shengelia is free from any situation, our GM Ronci did a good job during springtime to solve everything with CSKA Moscow, not like other situations that you can read in the newspapers," said Virtus CEO.

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