The best Greek players who never played for the Big Four (In the modern era)

By Stephen Kountourou

When thinking of the best Greek players, even if they start from humble beginnings at a small local club in the lower leagues, chances are they will be snapped up at youth level for one of Olympiakos, Panathinaikos, AEK or PAOK. Even if players are not initially scouted for an academy run by the big four, if they are good enough at the senior level, chances are, eventually, the giants of Greek football will come calling. 

There are some, however, that slip through the cracks and go on to either have long fruitful careers on the European stage or stay in Greece and ply their trade at other clubs without playing for one of the big four to raise their profile. 

The one big rule for this list of players is that there is a cut-off year. If the majority of a player's career was before 1990, he will not make it onto the list. 

Honourable mentions go to Georgios Firos, an Aris legend who made 303 appearances for the Thessaloniki side, Iraklis Charalampos Xanthopoulos who made 283 appearances for them and of course, the greatest Greek player of all time Vasilis Hatzipanagis who spent almost his whole career, also at Iraklis, but never left the club due to contractual controversies.

Georgios Samaras

Starting with an unconventional but memorable player in recent times, Giorgos Samaras started his career in his native Crete at OFI as a youth player. 

His first senior club, however, was actually in The Netherlands with Heerenveen before a big move to Premier League side Manchester City. Samaras struggled in English football he would go on to become a club legend for Celtic in the Scottish Premiership, most famously featuring in a 2-1 win over Barcelona in the UEFA Champions League.

After his time in Scotland came to an end he would briefly return to the Premier League with West Bromwich Albion, Al-Hilal, Rayo Oklahoma City, Real Zaragoza and Samsunspor. For the Ethniki he most famously scored a penalty in added time against the Ivory Coast to send Greece to the 20214 World Cup round of 16. 

Kostas Mavropanos

A more recent entry, Konstantinos Maropanos began his career at PAS Giannina. Although he was initially linked with a move to a big-four club in Greece, the Premier League came calling and the centre-back became Arsene Wenger’s last-ever signing as Arsenal manager. 

Apart from a solid performance against Manchester United, Mavropanos struggled to establish himself under then-manager Unai Emery and current boss Michel Arteta. After being labelled a flop by the English media, Dinos went on to have a fruitful time in Germany, firstly with 2nd tier side FC Nurnberg and then on loan with Bundesliga side Stuttgart, also on loan before the move was made permanent. 

He would regain his excellent reputation in German football, twice making the Bundesliga team of the season and being linked with a move to Borussia Dortmund before a return to the Premier League and his current club West Ham United came calling.

Angelos Charisteas

A man who almost needs no introduction, Angelos Charisteas started at Aris where he helped them return to the Alpha Ethniki and reestablish themselves in the Greek top flight. He eventually moved to Germany with Werder Bremen where he would win a league and cup double.

Having scored three, including the winner in the final at Euro 2004, and winning Greece a historic European championship, Charisteas moved to the Netherlands with Ajax for a three-season stint before controversially moving to their rivals Feyenoord for a further season. 

The rest of his club career included further stints in Germany, first with FC Nurnberg and Bayer Leverkusen on loan, Ligue 1 with Arles Avignon, a third spell in the Bundesliga with Schalke and finally a return to Greece at Panetolikos and the Saudi Pro League with Al-Nassr. At the time of writing, Charisteas has since returned to Aris as their sporting director.   

Nikos Machlas

Another Cretan native now, Nikos Machlas first began his career at local club OFI and even with an average of a goal every three games was not snapped up by one of the big four. Instead, Machlas moved to the Netherlands with Vitesse before the most well-known move of his career to Dutch giants Ajax. 

The Cretan striker had an excellent four years in Amsterdam before being sent out on loan to Sevilla in Spain in 2003. A return to Greece followed, first with Iraklis in Thessaloniki before returning to his boyhood club OFI for two seasons. 

The final move of his career would be to Cypriot side APOEL, where he won a league in his first season and the Cypriot Cup in his second. 

Vangelis Pavlidis

Another player who is still active, Vangelis Pavlidis who is a native of Thessaloniki, actually started his career in Germany with Bochum and made his professional debut for them. He would have loan spells with Borussia Dortmund II and Willem II before joining the Dutch club permanently. 

Despite playing for a struggling side in the Eredivisie, Pavlidis was their top scorer for two consecutive seasons, earning him a move to AZ Alkmaar. In 92 appearances, the striker scored 57 goals, helped AZ to consecutive 4th-place finishes and reached the Europa Conference League semi-finals in 2022/23. 

Three years as the club's top scorer and the Dutch league's top scorer in 2023/24, Pavlidis made his big move to Portuguese giants Benfica, where he has had a solid start to his time in Lisbon.

Thomas Kyparissis

A bit more of an obscure one but a player that is worth talking about. Thomas Kyparissis started his career in 1988 at local team Pirerikos, where he graduated and made his debut. 

The only player on this list who spent his entire career in Greece, the Katerini striker was a prolific goalscorer for the likes of Niki Volos, Panarkadikos, Panelefsiniakos, Xanthi and AEL Larissa, just to name a few clubs that he played for. 

He ended his 20-year career, scoring more than 150 goals where it all started at boyhood club Pierikos. After retiring the man nicknamed "Psychara" (Big Soul) by Larissa fans, when he stuck with the clubs during the best and worst of times in the early 2000s became the club's technical director.

Tasos Douvikas

Another recent player who didn’t make the move to a big four club in the earlier stages of his career, Anastasios Douvikas graduated from Asteras Tripolis Academy and made 40 appearances for the Arcadians. 

After his contract expired he signed for Volos FC where he averaged a goal every three matches in his only season at the club. 

Utrecht from the Eredivisie came calling with a reported fee of just one million Euros. A two-year spell in the Netherlands saw Douvikas top the scoring charts in 2022/23 and make his debut for the Greek national team. 

The next step up in his career was inevitable and it came in the form of his current club Celta Vigo who spent 12 million Euros to bring Douvikas to Spain. 

He ended his first season in Laliga as the joint-top scorer in all competitions at the club, helping Celta Vigo avoid relegation. At the time of writing, he’s had a mixed second campaign while still contributing. 

Ioannidis Amanatidis

The penultimate player on this list spent his whole career in Germany, that being, Ioannidis Amanatidis. The forward's career began at Stuttgart with loans to Greuther Fürth and Eintracht Frankfurt in that time. 

After five years, and after falling out with then-Stuttgart manager Filex Magath, the Kozani native moved to FC Kaiserslautern for one season before returning to Frankfurt, this time permanently, after they were promoted back to the Bundesliga. 

The rest of Amanatidis's career was spent there, becoming captain in the 2007/08 season. For the Ethniki, he was most famous for the winning goal he scored in a 0-1 away win against Turkey in the qualifiers for Euro 2008.

Christos Mandas

The final player on this list and one who is also the youngest, Christos Mandas started his career for Peristeri side Atromitos, but it was at OFI where he really started to show his potential. 

After an impressive 2022/23 season Mandas joined Italian side Lazio. The keeper from Piraeus made his debut in the Italian Cup quarterfinals against Lazio’s bitter rivals Roma, where he famously kept a clean sheet in the Rome derby to officially announce himself in Italian football. 

At only 23 years old Mandas, when given the chance, has shown at club level he has a huge career ahead of him with him and fellow Greek keeper Konstantinos Tzolakis vying for the starting goalkeeper position soon for the national team.