MANAGING director Mick Donovan says Worcester Wolves have taken a “huge” step towards achieving their goal of playing in Europe after forging strong links with Valencia Basket.

The University of Worcester, who owns Wolves, announced they had signed a “partnership agreement” with the Spanish side, who are widely considered as one of the biggest basketball clubs in Europe.

Donovan, who went to the Spanish city with Professor David Green, chief executive of the university, to complete the deal, said it had put Worcester on the basketball map.

Although admitting Wolves were unlikely to sign any Valencia players, Donovan revealed it could present opportunities for head coach Paul James to snap up players from a country which is believed to be the second best in the world.

“It is huge,” he said.

“To get this sort of recognition from such a prestigious club is a big pat on the back for us.

“I don’t think we can afford any of the players on the Valencia rostrum but, in terms of the knowledge of players within the region, that is obviously going to help.

“It would be nice in the future if we could get a pool of players.

“Some of those might not to be ready for the ACB League (Spain’s top division) but they may need to play competitive basketball and that is a discussion we will have further down the line.

“But they have got a team of scouts who have got a lot of information about basketball in Spain, so it will help widen our net in terms of looking at different players.”

Donovan said the partnership they had formed with the 2014 Eurocup champions was “unique” and could help Wolves, who are third in the British Basketball League, scale new heights.

“One of the problems we sometimes have in this country is that we think we are the best at everything and we have been victims of that in football,” he said.

“But if we are going to learn and get better, then it is best to go to the best to learn from them.

“Two years ago we were in the play-off final at Wembley (Arena) and got a ticket for Europe, so Worcester could have been playing in the competition down from the Euro League.

“We can’t afford that at the moment as you are talking about spending millions of pounds but do we aspire to do it in the future? Of course we do.”

Wolves already have partnerships with University of Leon, Lithuania Sports University and Beijing Sports University.

Donovan revealed they had held talks with Real Madrid Basketball Club before starting discussions with Valencia 12 months ago.

The head of the institute of sport and exercise science at the university said they now hoped to use the link to exchange expertise, knowledge and co-operation between staff with the chance for Spanish coaches to come to Worcester.

The first project to be launched through the partnership will be the Valencia Basket and Worcester Basketball Camp in August in Worcester.