Unicaja Malaga president talks Alberto Diaz's case, budget increase, Real-Partizan series / News - Basketnews.com

Unicaja Malaga president Antonio Jesus Lopez Nieto spoke to AS about Alberto Diaz's future and Real Madrid's reported interest in the player. He also referred to the team's budget for next season and commented on Partizan fans' behavior towards Real Madrid.

Credit: FIBA Media Credit FIBA Media

Unicaja Malaga are going to host the Final Four of the Basketball Champions League next week (12-14 May). The team coached by Ibon Navarro is having an excellent season, despite losing its last ACB game 90-102 to Real Madrid.

Alberto Diaz

Team:Unicaja MalagaPosition:SGAge:29Height:188 cmWeight:77 kgBirth place:SpainProfileNewsStatistics

Apart from making it to their first-ever BCL Final Four, Unicaja have won the Copa del Rey beating the likes of Madrid and FC Barcelona en route to the trophy. Even though a big part of their roster has signed a contract extension, the player who keeps making headlines is Alberto Diaz.

The Spanish international still has a year left on his contract, but last February rumors surfaced that Real Madrid are taking an interest in buying him out.

In an interview with AS, the president of Unicaja and former football referee, Antonio Jesus Lopez Nieto, denied any kind of contact with Madrid, while referring to the player's clause if any team was interested.

"Unicaja is not considering negotiating anything”, explained Lopez Nieto. "Alberto Díaz is our player, he has one year left on his contract and a buyout clause. We are not going to negotiate," he clarified.

Alberto Díaz's clause is 850,000 euros, so if Real Madrid wanted to secure the services of the Spanish point guard, they would have to pay that amount.

"Formally, we have not received any offer," Lopez Nieto continued.

"Alberto hasn't told us anything either. He is a player that carries our DNA. The thought of negotiating his clause has never crossed our mind, 200%. We would never accept such a negotiation. That's one of the intrinsic values ​​of this club."

Unicaja is the team with the highest percentage of spectators attending its matches. An interesting report by Diario Sur shows that Martín Carpana, with a capacity of approximately 10,700 spectators, has seen an average of 8,870 spectators per match. That's a number that exceeds those of Cazoo Baskonia (8,418), Surne Bilbao (7,964) and Real Madrid (7,217).

Alberto Diaz

MIN:17.36PTS:3.17 (46.34%)REB:2.42As:4.17ST:0.92BL:0TO:1GM:12ProfileBCL2022/2023

Last year, Unicaja were fourth from bottom with 4,368, only above Tenerife (4,190), Valencia (3,606) and Andorra (3,154).

"Much has changed, faster than we expected,' Lopez Nieto admitted.

"We had our plan drawn up, but the process has accelerated and we have to be prepared for it. We are glad that this happened. We have 11 consecutive victories, something that has not happened since 2005.

And it scares me because people get used to good things very easily and we must be clear that this is not normal, we can't always win games. There will be bad moments and the club needs to have the strength to endure those moments."

As seven players (Kendrick Perry, Tyler Kalinoski, Dario Brizuela, Nihad Djedovic, Melvin Ejim, David Kravish, Dylan Osetkowski have signed extensions over the past few weeks, Lopez Nieto revealed thatthe current budget, estimated at around 10.5 million euros, willgrow to around two million euros. That will be the total increase in players' salaries ahead of the 2023-24 campaign.

Yankuba Sima, Augusto Lima, Tyson Carter and Will Thomas are the players that might follow. Sports Director Juanma Rodriguez is trying to make things work for Unicaja's open cases.

"Everyone wants to stay, but intelligent agreements must be reached, which are those that favor both parties, both in contract duration and from a financial standpoint," Lopez Nieto argued.

"We want to leave some work for the summer. Sima could stay with us if the sports management deems it appropriate and in the case of Lima, whose contract ends in June, the intention is for him to continue. But the question is whether the agreement is acceptable to him and to us."

Unicaja's president admitted that he didn't expect the team to win the Spanish Cup this year.

"Our strategic plan to make the first jump contemplating three objectives, which should be normal in this club: reach the Copa del Rey, play the Spanish playoffs and reach the final stage of the European competition we're playing.

The Copa del Rey had crowned Real Madrid or Barcelona as champions for 14 years due to the huge budget difference that exists with the rest. "

The Spanish executive further pointed out that Real Madrid had "two tremendous games" in Belgrade, bouncing back from a 0-2 deficit to tie the series with Partizan and force a Game 5 in the Spanish capital.

"It's important that Spanish teams reach the Final Four of the EuroLeague and promote the ACB brand in Europe. Going to Belgrade with 0-2 and coming back has a big value."

Lopez Nieto said he wouldn't like to comment on the sanctions imposed by the EuroLeague on the two rivals for the incidents that took place during Game 2 in Madrid.

However, he did stress that "if the same thing had happened in a football match, beyond the sanction, the incidents in Belgrade would have been greater. They would have received Madrid in a more sour way. Basketball fans are generally very good."

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