The relationship, outside the courts, between Thomas Heurtel and Barça can, in the end, be summed up as a story of airplanes. While the French playmaker will make his return to the Catalan club according to Markafter visits to Russia and China, the reasons for his departure from FC Barcelona four years ago immediately come to mind.
In 2020, after a Euroleague match in Istanbul, Thomas Heurtel was prevented by Barça from boarding the plane back to Spain. The reason: Thomas Heurtel, it is believed, in discussions with Fenerbahçe, before the Barcelona club knew that, in fact, Heurtel was in negotiations with the enemy club, Real Madrid. Crime of lese majeste.
A possible return of choice?
“We went to Istanbul and Thomas did not train. I thought he had a medical exam at Fenerbahçe, explained Nacho Rodriguez, former head of the basketball section of Barça, in an interview for Write Sport. However, on Tuesday morning, reports began to circulate that he was close to signing for Real Madrid. »
Four years after this period, Thomas Heurtel will find the Blaugrana, who are in bad form this season. Only eighth in the Liga ACB and eleventh in the Euroleague, the Catalans fell. It is also a chance for Thomas Heurtel to return to the door of the French team, he who was left out after his signing in Russia, at Zénith Saint-Petersburg.