CSKA basketball player Nikola Milutinov left the club

VTB United League Regular Season Most Valuable Player (MVP) winner Nikola Milutinov left CSKA. The Moscow club announced this on its Telegram channel. Note that the departure of the Serbian center was more than predictable. His contract has expired, the demand for his services in Europe is prohibitive, and it would be unreasonable to extend the agreement with the army team, who were excluded, like all other Russian clubs, from European competition.

The key player of CSKA basketball, Serbian center Nikola Milutinov, who received the prize for the most valuable player of the regular championship at the end of the last season, officially left CSKA. Note that the departure of Milutinov seemed almost inevitable.

Milutinov’s contract with the army team has expired, and the scope of the Russian championship, in which the basketball player has been locked up in the last two seasons, is tight for a player of this level.

“It’s hard to say goodbye to all the wonderful teammates, friends and fans I met at CSKA and in Moscow. I enjoyed every minute of being and performing there. It was a great honor for me to play for such a great and historic club. But it’s time to move on. I wish you all the best and good luck! I am sure that CSKA will return to the European peak, and we will meet again!” Milutinov said. official website BC CSKA.

In turn, the president of the CSKA basketball club Andrey Vatutin noted that “Milutinov, if not the best, then one of the three best centers playing in Europe at the moment.”

“And also a wonderful person. A year ago, he had the opportunity to leave for one of the Euroleague clubs, but he assured me that he would stay, that he wanted to help the team regain the title. Alas, it did not work out (in the last season of the VTB United League, CSKA lost “Lokomotiv-Kuban” in the semifinals.— “b”), but this is in no way connected with his diligence and dedication. At the most difficult moment, he showed stamina and club patriotism, proved the highest professionalism. It is impossible to replace a player with such a set of qualities. But such is life,” said Andrey Vatutin.

CSKA head coach Emil Raikovich noted that it was a pleasure for him to work with such a player as Milutinov. “It was a great pleasure to work with such a person and a basketball player. I hope our paths cross again in the future. I wish him great luck and joy in life and professional career,” said Rajkovic.

Nikola Milutinov spoke for CSKA since 2020 and since then has played 119 games for the army team in all tournaments, in which he averaged 12.2 points and made 8.6 rebounds.

Alexander Petrov