By Eurohoops Team / info@eurohoops.net
Israeli businessman Ofer Yannay, owner of Hapoel Tel Aviv, shared remarkable details about the Vasilije Micic transfer on the EuroInsiders podcast. He explained that Micic, Europe’s highest-paid player, chose Hapoel despite Real Madrid‘s higher offer based on the club’s vision and his own belief.
Yannay said, “There’s plenty of money in the world, but passion and vision are scarce. If you have passion and vision, you want to be a part of this story. Let’s take Micic as an example… Real Madrid offered him more money than we did, but he chose us. If he had gone to Madrid, he would have won the EuroLeague. But he chose to come to Hapoel and be part of the vision of taking a EuroCup team to the EuroLeague level. Perhaps he will achieve even more… Now it’s up to him.” Yannay, who said he was impressed by Micic’s determination despite the difficult conditions in Israel, said, “We spoke with him many times while the country was under attack. It wasn’t an easy time, but he saw my commitment to this project and felt the same passion. That was one of the key factors that convinced him.”
Recounting how the talks resumed at the last minute, Yannay said, “We couldn’t agree at first because of the amount of money he was asking for. Then his representatives asked us to resubmit an offer. At that point, Vasa and his father told me they were Serbian and knew what war meant. They said, ‘We hope you all do well.’ That’s when I realized he wanted to come to Hapoel.”
Yannay explained that the transfer was completed quite late, in the early hours of the morning, and continued:
“I told Micic, ‘I told you you were asking for a lot of money, but I had a strong feeling you would play for Hapoel.’ After the agreement, he called me and said, ‘Remember when you talked about your vision… I dreamed I was playing for Hapoel that night.’ I said, half-jokingly, ‘I wish you had told me sooner, then we would have paid less.’”