Real Madrid have taken the final and definitive step to close the Mario Hezonja soap opera: after the Croatian forward confirmed on social media that he was not going to change teams, the club has made his renewal official. So now, definitely, yes: case closed. Hezonja (29 years old) will remain at Madrid for the next five seasons.
This step seemed a given once the earthquake caused by the information from various sources on June 14th that pointed to the existence of a pre-agreement between Hezonja and Barcelona had passed. A time bomb that was defused during a few very intense hours that ended with an official denial from Barça, which completely distanced itself from the matter, and finally with the version of Hezonja himself, who assured that his only wish had always been to stay in Madrid: “As you all know, after my last game of the season I became a free agent with the ability to decide where I wanted to play for the next few years. I didn’t reach any prior agreement with anyone, and I have always said that when there is something, I will be the first to tell you. Real Madrid believed in me when many others didn’t, they cared about me and my family from the day I arrived at the club and they made us feel at home. My only intention was to continue, so I am very happy to announce that my journey will continue at home, at Real Madrid, for a long time.”
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Over the years, the Blaugrana team has had its bad experiences with the arrival of players who should have been stars, but whose performance left much to be desired in generally very short stays at the club.
Hezonja was out of contract and had spent months in talks with Real Madrid that had not come to fruition. The background was a financial issue, of course, but there were also reports that he was not clear about his role in a team so full of important players. Panathinaikos appeared without hesitation, a suitor who had already tried last summer and with whom there is a reciprocal love: Hezonja was reunited with the Athenian club when he returned from the NBA. At that time (2021) Barça renounced his rights in Europe because they did not count on him. There began a disagreement that made this supposed pre-agreement for Super Mario to return to play for Barça even stranger. His messages in recent days were not liked at all in Barcelona, where he played in 2012 and 2015, when he left for the NBA through the front door (number 5 in the draft in 2015).
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The time in the United States did not go well (Magic, Knicks, Blazers…). He returned to Europe in pain, but the months at PAO revitalised a career that then settled definitively at UNICS, where he was shining (2021-22) when the suspension of Russian teams in European competitions arrived. In the summer of 2022 he signed with Real Madrid for two seasons, but last summer he had to come out and confirm that he was not moving, because even then the siren songs coming from Athens were persistent. Nothing was known about Barcelona, which later appeared in the equation, as well as a possible return to try again in the NBA.
But none of that worked out, and Hezonja finally signed a contract for five more seasons at Real Madrid, where he will be part of the new core (Campazzo, Deck, himself, Tavares…). After winning the League in Murcia, he said that he wanted to win back the Euroleague after the disappointment of the Berlin final, where he did not have a good performance. He said mea culpa, and now he will be able to fulfil his wish and continue winning titles with a Madrid team where he has already had a full house in two years: Euroleague, League, Cup and two Super Cups. Super Mario is not moving.
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2024-07-02 09:11:54
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