Trinchieri on Cedi Osman: “You cannot replace him as a player or as a person”

Andrea Trinchieri wanted to make one thing clear right from the start. Following PAOK’s victory over Vikos, the Italian coach opened his press conference with a heartfelt message for Cedi Osman, highlighting the player’s importance to the team both on and off the court.

“Whoever even thinks we can replace Cedi Osman, as a player or as a person on our team, doesn’t understand basketball. Today, we did it for Cedi and for the team. The surgery went very well, and that’s great news,” Trinchieri said, expressing his support for the player and his satisfaction with the successful outcome of the operation.

During the press conference, the coach also addressed the numerous transfer rumours surrounding PAOK, openly expressing his frustration with reports about potential new signings and replacements within the team.

Trinchieri used an analogy from the business world to explain how destabilising such rumours can be for those directly involved: “Imagine working for a large company and reading in the newspaper every morning that your company is looking for someone to fill the exact same position as you. How could you work properly under those circumstances? You would probably think: ‘What the hell, are they looking to bring this guy in to replace me?’.”

The Italian coach then stressed how impossible it is to control what gets published: “How am I supposed to control you and your stories, with a gun? No, there’s no way to do that. At the end of the day, it’s also part of the job, but I’ll be honest: transfer rumours are the worst part of our profession.”

Finally, Trinchieri questioned the reliability of many of the reports circulating in the media, pointing out that several players linked with his team had never even been considered by the club: “If someone started calculating the accuracy rate of these stories, separating what’s true from what’s complete nonsense, I’m sure many of you would stop publishing them. Some of the players I read about in the newspapers, I can assure you, haven’t even crossed our minds”.

The coach’s comments reflect PAOK’s current situation, with concern over Osman’s condition, encouraging news following his surgery and Trinchieri’s determination to protect the team’s focus from constant transfer speculation.