Celis Taflaj, Vigevano 1955’s first purchase for the new season, was presented in his new home at PalaELAchem. The Albanian winger, coming from Fortitudo Bologna, was introduced by president Marino Spaccasassi: “We often followed Celis during the last championship – said Spaccasassi -, he is a player with experience in this category and we need to deepen ours, he was looking for a number 3 who could replace Smith, even if he has different characteristics, with some ninute as a power forward, if our coach deemed it appropriate. I was pleased that he accepted our first proposal, because to play in Vigevano you have to believe, we don’t have the infinite budgets of other teams. Celis wanted to put himself to the test, he knows that he has had much more playing time than in recent years, we think he is a useful player for our game and for achieving our goal.”
Taflaj confirms that he jumped at the opportunity. “It took me a few minutes to accept the proposal – he says -. Vigevano is a serious club, I was called by a coach who wanted me and I like the project. I can’t wait to start training with my new teammates, we will try to take the team as high as possible. It will be a long and difficult championship, of a truly high level as perhaps never before, I was in this building for the championship match played against Bologna last March and I had the opportunity to appreciate the warmth of the public, it is not a factor secondary. I think I made the right choice.”
During the presentation Spaccasassi also announced the second new addition to the roster, the Serbian Mihajlo Jerkovic. “He is a player who will give us greater solidity under the boards, his centimeters will be useful in an area of the pitch where we had difficulties in the last championship, on certain occasions he could also be deployed as a centre”.
Mihajlo Jerkovic, Serbian winger from Italian basketball training, born on 21 June 1999, is 204 centimeters tall and weighs 95 kg and played in the last championship among the ranks of Umana Chiusi, achieving an average in the regular season of 8.2 points and 6.1 average rebounds in 23 minutes on the pitch. Before his adventure with the Tuscan team, he also wore the shirts of Umana Reyer Venezia (where he worked in the youth teams) in 2018/19, Udine and Juvi Cremona in 2019/20, Dubrava Fumir (Croatian first series) in 2020/21, Nardò in 2021/22, Ferrara and San Severo in 2022/23.
Instead, say goodbye to Leonardo Battistini, who will not wear the Vigevano 1955 shirt in the 2024/25 season. The twenty-nine year old winger from Mantua, who arrived at the ducal court in the year of his return to Serie A2 after three seasons played in Cividale del Friuli, concluded 2023/24 by contributing to the playoff quarter-finals played against Forlì with an average of 10.6 points and over 7 rebounds per game in the 36 games played this season.
