Spanoulis and Pekovic to stay in Panathinaikos?

The latest information from Athens speaks about a narrower gap in the negotiations.


Vassilis Spanoulis and Nikola Pekovic are ever closer to staying with Panathinaikos for the next season. The start was made with the renewal of coach Zeljko Obradovic. In actual fact that the announcement of Obradovic's renewal was made before he even signed the contracts. This is a tactic unlike the administration of Panathinaikos but extreme situations require extreme measures.

The information that is being leaked out very carefully from Panathinaikos suggests that the Giannakopoulos brothers are willing to keep the stars of their team. It was after all the most important requirement for Obradovic to stay in Panathinaikos. Nevertheless he did know himself that it would be difficult to retain Spanoulis now that he is a free agent but not impossible.

Obviously the deal has not gone through yet but as I said mentioned above the information that has been leaked out today, mostly for publicity purposes, suggests that the negotiations might even finish on Monday. That's when the next meeting is due with Misko Raznatovic, agent of both Spanoulis and Pekovic (and also Tepic). That meeting is the key point in the negotiations and the suspense is prolonged for 2 more days for the fans of Panathinaikos and also for the fans of other teams who are hoping that Spanoulis is up for grabs. As for Pekovic he has a contract for one more season with Panathinaikos and a buy-out clause of 1 million dollars. Pekovic seems content in Panathinaikos and one more season in Athens will not hinder in any way his move to Minnesota.

Perhaps in the end, the prospect of Olympiakos acquiring Spanoulis, was enough by itself to force the hand of the owners of Panathinaikos. More on this saga to follow on Monday evening..

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