The Real Madrid basketball team made official this Friday the signing of the Bayern Munich center Serge Ibakawho will be linked to the white club next season, as confirmed in an official statement from the entity chaired by Florentino Pérez.
The space of He was part of Real Madrid in 2011 loaned by the Oklahoma City Thunder of the NBA. More than a decade later, from Bayern Munich, he will wear the white jersey again. The 34-year-old center was very happy to return to the entity chaired by Florentino Pérez.
“For me it’s like coming home. I’m really looking forward to it, I already know what it’s like to play here. I really want to wear this jersey again and be with them,” he said.
In addition, he spoke about his condition 13 years after leaving Real Madrid and said that physically he had changed and his level of play had improved a lot: “That is the difference between the Ibaka of today and the one before. My work has always been defensive, since the beginning of my career, but now I have progressed a lot in attack“I can also bring my experience, because I have been playing professional basketball for 18 years,” he explained.
Now he will form a pivot pair with Walter Tavaresand stressed that with the Cape Verdean player’s defensive mentality and his presence on the field, they can form a “very important and strong” duo in Europe.
“I’m here to win. I came because here, with Real Madrid, I have the possibility of winning and that’s what I want.what I like. I like that pressure of a team that is already used to winning. Always, every year, the team will try to win and I like that,” he added.
About what it will be like to work alongside the coach Chus Mateorecalled that he is a coach he has known for a long time with a style that he “loves”. “I have seen how the team plays in recent years and I really want to work with them,” he said.
Ibaka will return to his team after winning the German League and Cup last season and after having developed a “brilliant 14-season career in the NBA”, where he was proclaimed champion with the Toronto Raptors in the 2018/19 season.
In addition, Ibaka managed to Spanish selection the gold medal at the European Championships in Lithuania in 2011 and the silver medal at the London Olympic Games in 2012.