Panathinaikos Rumour Roundup

Panathinaikos Rumor Roundup: 

By: Antonios Theodosis


It’s that time of year, despite the unusual circumstances, where rumors are being thrown around left and right. Players are rumored to be joining the club while others have played their last game already and have moved on. With the club moving in a new direction lots of fans are excited, myself included.

One of the hottest rumors so far this summer has been the return of fan favorite Lucas Villafanez. Several Greek news outlets had reported on Villafanez’s potential return early last month with claims that the Argentinian was looking for a way to break free from his contract with Mexican side Morelia. Most recent reports have claimed that a return on a free transfer does not seem likely as there is economic discrepancy over the amount Morelia want for Villafanez’s release. It is understood that should the Argentine return, it would be on loan for the season to come. Although it would be ideal for Villafanez to return on a free transfer, a loan for next season with the obligation to buy next summer would be a good deal for PAO who are looking to get back into Europe next summer.

Another rumor that has had Panathinaikos fans excited is the potential signing of Chilean Right-Back Mauricio Isla. The thirty two year old’s name suddenly became linked with Panathinaikos recently after having become a free agent. At the moment, the interest seems to have some merit with reports claiming the Chilean international wants to remain in Europe. 

The main issue Panathinaikos will face if they are serious about singing Isla is the economic demands the player will be seeking. It is rumored that he wants around eight hundred thousand euros, which at the moment seems to be out of the club’s budget. Time will tell, Xavi Roca was able to convince the promising talent

Aitor to sign on and he may be able to get Isla to agree to be a part of this project as well. If the club can sign the experienced Right Back it will prove to be a good signing as Isla still has a lot to offer at his age.

Along with this it is rumored that Dani Poyatos values both Nikos Vergos and Dimitris Emmanouilidis for next season, with the former being considered as a backup option to Carlitos for next season. The twenty-four year old spent the last six months on loan with Hercules in the Spanish second division. 

Emmanouilidis had a successful stint on loan at Panionios scoring four goals in nineteen appearances. The only problem this may pose is that the club will have a deep rotation of forwards with Carlitos, Vergos, Perea, Emmanouilidis and Kampetsis. Perhaps as the summer progresses the plan will become clearer as to what will happen in this regard.

The final and most outlandish rumor reported so far is the potential purchase of the club by an unnamed Chinese consortium. Various news outlets and media personalities in Greece have claimed that an unnamed Chinese consortium is in talks to purchase the club along with several others throughout Europe by mid July. There is no solid basis to this rumor however as it appears that Alafouzos has no intention of selling the club this summer. He has been focused on attending to front office matters and laying out a plan for the upcoming season. In short, I urge the Panathinaikos faithful to not get too caught up in this rumor and take it with a pinch of salt.

It seems that Xavi Roca is working diligently to transform Panathinaikos this summer. Time will tell if Villafanez and Isla will be wearing Green next season and what will happen concerning the club’s future in terms of ownership. Regardless of what happens, next season will be a fun one for Panathinaikos fans.

Hellas Football

Follow @antoniotheo on Instagram 

(Photo Credit: Image labeled for reuse and taken from Wikipedia.org)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Top 10 Chants in Greek Football

Image
Top 10 Chants in Greek Football By Nick Tsambouniaris, Greek ultras are known around the world for their passionate support. Atmospheres at games are electric to say the least as fans act as the 12 th man for their team. Here are my top 10 chants in Greek football with a hyperlink to the YouTube video of them being belted out in full glory. 10. AEK – RE BIN LADEN This cheeky party starter aimed at Olympiakos from AEK’s Original 21 makes it as number 10. As you can see in the below link, every single fan is jumping and singing along with purpose, making for a great atmosphere. 10. AEK – RE BIN LADEN 9. PAOK – IRTHAME SKASTOI APO TIN KLINIKI Gate 4 of PAOK are notoriously known for creating an intimidating atmosphere wherever they go. This particular chant gets extra points for its climax ending when the fans rise from the ground as one jumping all over the place. The chant itself is also funny and sums up the passion of Greek football fans in general as it says they
Read more

A Knee away from the 1998 World Cup

Image
A Knee away from the 1998 World Cup By Greg Gavalas Coming of what would have been for the Ethniki in World Cup Qualifications, Mexico 70 was close with a very good team, and as mentioned in that part, until 1994, Greece had seldom even got close to World Cup Qualification however the next opportunity to reach the grandest stage would happen in just the next campaign which was for the 1998 World Cup to be held in France. Coming off the 1994 World Cup itself, Greece would form a new face under coach Kostas Polychroniou, the vast majority of the team was also new with younger and very skilful players who would also go through their first full qualifying campaign for Euro 96 previously. After a bright start to that campaign, the Ethniki would fall short of qualification to Russia and Scotland, however the team played nice football and were a totally different squad to that of Alketas Panagoulias in 93/94, even scoring 23 goals for the 96 campaign vs 10 for the 94 campaign. Kostas Polychro
Read more

The Panathinaikos - Croatian Connection

Image
The Panathinaikos - Croatian Connection By: Antonios Theodosis Athenian based club Panathinaikos is a part of the “big four” of Greece, and like their rivals, Panathinaikos have seen their fair share of foreign talent come in through the ranks. In my last article, I covered the connection Panathinaikos had with players from Argentina and the success many of the Argentine’s brought to the club. For the Panathinaikos faithful, the connection does not stop with Argentinian players. The Greens have also seen their fair share of notable Croatian players come in through the ranks and help bring success to the club. Some of these notable players are: Velemir Zajec, Mario Galinovic, Goran Vlaovic, Mladen Petric, Gordan Schildenfeld, and Danijel Pranjic - with the latter granting me the opportunity to answer some questions I had regarding the Panathinaikos - Croatian connection. However, the connection does not stop with the players. Gate Thirteen, Panathinaikos’ ultras fan group hav
Read more