Both Euroleague powerhouses Barcelona and Panathinaikos are after major European prospects. Barcelona is reported to have already agreed with Swedish Nicholas Spires while Panathinaikos is rumoured to be willing to put as much as one million euros on the table to snatch Chrysikopoulos from Aris.
According to Swedish basketball website “Svensk Basket Television” the deal between Barcelona and Spires (16 years old, 208cm) is a done deal and the player will join the U18 team of the club.
To Panathinaikos now who is strongly interested in Linos Chrysikopoulos (17 years old, 203cm), one of the three players who really impressed in the U18 European Championship taking place in Lithuania these days averaging 15.9 pts, 8.4 rbs and 2.6 assists.
As an underage player Aris holds his rights but once he becomes an adult (in some months time) the player will have the right to choose his own team and leave without Aris getting a buy-out (just a typical “bringing up” fee), so the Thessaloniki-based club is keen on selling now rather than taking any chances of losing him for nothing.
Panathinaikos has been following the player for the past two years but want to hurry now before more clubs join the race for his signature.
