The Croatian forward is the eleventh player to sign for the white team after having played for Barça
Seven players have made the reverse journey, including the now Blaugrana Mirotic and Laprovittola
Historically, transfers of players between Barça and Real Madrid have always had a morbid component and the announcement made this Thursday by the white club of the signing of the Croatian Mario Hezonja is not an exception at all.
The forward, who played for Barça between 2012 and 2015 (first in the subsidiary and then in the first team) is the eighteenth player in history to play for the two eternal rivals of Spanish basketball in an airlift that has also been experienced in football.
With Luis Figo, Ronaldo as the most outstanding representatives in football of those who left Barça for Madrid and the most reputable examples of those who made that route in the opposite direction are Luis Enrique and Samuel Eto’o on a list that would be endless with the Schusters, Celades, Hagi, Prosinecki, Milla, Nando, Saviola, Dani García, Alfonso, Lopetegui and company.
Back to basketball Hezonja (27 years old) is a player with both talent and gaps in understanding the game who will seek to become a reference for Madrid after an adventure from more to less in the NBA and a remarkable campaign in the Russian UNICS Kazan.
Mirotic has caused more than one rash in Madrid
| EFE
Of these 18 players, 11 played for Madrid after passing through the Palau. In addition to the Balkan, they are Santi Abad (1988-89 for Barça and 1995-96 for white), José Luis Galilea (1990-96 and 1999-00), Sasa Djordjevic (1996-99 and with a lot of curiosity 1999-02)Derrick Alston (1998-00 and 2002-03), Alain Digbeu (1999-02 and 2002-03), Michael Hawkins (2001 and 2002), Pepe Sánchez (2007-08 and 2008-09), Adam Hanga (2017- 21 and from 2021 in Madrid) and the controversial Thomas Heurtel (2017-21 and 2021-22).
The most atypical case of all still remains, the only one that returned to Barça after leaving for Madrid and even had an important position in the structure of the section. This is Serbian center Zoran Savic, who wore a Barça shirt from 1991 to 1993, then wore white between 1995-96 and returned to the Palau (2001-02). In addition, he directed the designs of the section in the dispatches between 2005 and 2008.
Savic, with Laporta in 2005 in the presentation of Kakiouzis
| FCB
As for those who carried out the reverse chapter, Jasikevicius currently has two of them under his command. It is aboutthe Argentinian Nico Laprovittola (he arrived at Barça last summer after a course at WiZink) and of the Hispano-Montenegrin Nikola Miroticwho provoked the wrath of the Madrid fans in 2019 when his signing for Barça was announced after training in the eternal rival and shining in the first team, including a prior loan to Palencia.
The rest are ‘Piculín’ Ortiz (1990 and 1990-92), Dejan Bodiroga (1996-98 and 2002-05 in a Barça with which he was key to winning the first Euroleague of the section), Maciel Lampe (2001-02 in Madrid and 2013-15 with a mythical basket that gave Barça an Endesa League, executing his old team), Ioannis Bourousis (2006 and 2013-15) and former Barça captain Ante Tomic (2010-12 and 2012-20).