Galatasaray coach Ergin Ataman has publicly said that every one of his players is free to leave the club in the midst of the team’s financial problems.
Point guard Carlos Arroyo is reportedly exempt from this though. Furkan Aldemir has already left the team for the NBA, as announced earlier today on his Facebook page.
I would like to make a statement about the news concerning my conclusion.
Playing in the NBA is one of my greatest dreams, just like all the basketball players. I had some positive conditions to realize this dream in last couple of days. We have considered those conditions with my family and my agent, and we have decided that an experience in USA will be much efficient for my personal career and development. But I just want everyone to know that; during my career in Galatasaray, I always fighted for my team, I made many sacrifices for those colours. Sometimes I played despite my injuries, as my teammates did as well. I just sweat for this club’s success.
I have made this conclusion to get my improvement to an upper level, not for the economic reasons as thought. In this context, I’m leaving my club, Galatasaray without asking any other demands except my unpaid salaries. I believe that the Galatasaray family will protect the mutual respect and ethic values between each other.
When I first came to Galatasaray, one of my dreams was going to NBA, not to another European club. I’m proud to realize that dream. Now, my goal is to represent my country in this league, as my older brothers did before and getting successful. I know that being patient and tenacious will very important in this new experience.
With Allah’s allowance, I’d like to add more successful achievements to my career. I’m thankful to all my teammates, coaches, brothers and fans supported my during my career.
Keep your prayers with me.
Furkan Aldemir
Galatasaray are already looking at major reprocussions following an incident on Friday night before their Euroleague game with Red Star Belgrade where one of the Red Star fans was stabbed to death.
“I am the only one who will never leave Galatasaray. Our final goal is the same, but we’ll change our strategy,” Ataman said. “We are close to agreeing with a forward but it seems we will buy a center too. We must find a sponsor like Ulker and Milangaz.”
