French international Thomas Heurtel signed with La Coruna, a week after the about-face of FC Barcelona who finally gave up recruiting him at the last moment.
The 35-year-old leader, free since his departure from the Chinese club Shenzhen in November, joins the penultimate of the Spanish championship, who has not specified the duration of his commitment. He was close to returning to the Euroleague with Barça before the Catalan club finally gave up, on January 3, on recruiting him even though he had landed in Barcelona to sign his contract.
Barça, where Heurtel played from 2017 to 2021, justified its decision to the player’s agent, David Carro, with a “social impact problem” among his supporters, opposed to the return of the man who left for the hated rival of Real Madrid.
Heurtel, 2013 European champion, 2021 Olympic and 2022 European vice-champion with the Blues, denounced after this about-face a “great lack of respect” of FC Barcelona. He returned to Europe after two seasons spent at Zenit Saint-Petersburg (2022-2024) which had made him ineligible for the French team. Heurtel had in fact signed for Zenit after having committed to the honor, like other French internationals, of not joining a Russian or Belarusian club following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
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