The new trend in Greek exports: Strikers

Less than a month after his 19th birthday, Stefanos Tzimas has just become the second most expensive Greek footballer in history. And no, the new Brighton recruit is not a centre back.

Greek Striker Stefanos Tzimas Moves to Brighton

For more than two decades, particularly following the contribution of Traianos Dellas and Mihalis Kapsis in Greece’s UEFA Euro 2004 unprecedented triumph, a significant number of central defenders moved abroad – and with significant success. Dellas himself had already played in England and he upgraded his game in Italy by moving from Perugia to Roma, while Kapsis joined Bordeaux, at the time still among France’s top clubs.

Several others followed in their footsteps. Sotiris Kyrgiakos established himself in Scotland with a domestic double with Glasgow Rangers in 2005, before moving to Eintracht Frankfurt and then Liverpool. Sokratis Papastathopoulos, who only retired last year as a Real Betis player, won major honours in Italy with Milan, Germany with Borussia Dortmund and England with Arsenal. Kostas Manolas, another Roma icon, claimed the Coppa Italia with Napoli. 

New gen, new trend

Infact, it is Manolas who holds the all-time transfer fee record for a Greek player thanks to his 36-million-euro move from the Eternal City to Naples in July 2019. Tzimas climbed to second with this week’s transfer involving three clubs for a total fee of 26.4 million. German second division outfit Nürnberg bought out parent club PAOK and immediately sold the player’s rights to Brighton & Hove Albion. He will remain on loan with the nine-time German champions until the end of the season.

A product of PAOK’s youth academy, Tzimas made his first team debut in a 2-0 Greek Cup victory over Kalamata on January 10, 2023. The following season he was crowned Greek champion, making an impression despite his age. His loan move to Nürnberg immediately after that proved a stepping stone. Playing under Miro Klose, Germany’s all-time leading marksman, he has 10 goals, one assist and a penalty won in a total of 18 outings to show for his improvement, which together with his young age reportedly attracted the attention of a number of English and Italian clubs, a race finally won by Brighton. 

Expat strikers

But while Tzimas is currently an under 21 international, the majority of Greece’s men’s side frontline are plying their trade abroad, making a name for themselves. Top scorer of both the Eredivisie with Utrecht in 2022-’23 and the Copa del Rey with Celta the following campaign, Tasos Douvikas just joined Como for 13 million euros. Yorgos Yakoumakis was also crowned as the top marksman in the Dutch top flight (in ’20-’21 with VVV), before repeating the feat the following year with Celtic in both the SPL and the Scottish Cup! Another hugely successful spell in the US with Atlanta United saw him earn a lucrative deal with Cruz Azul last July – and he’s compensated the Mexican giants with 9 goals scored and another five assisted in only 21 outings so far. 

But the hottest Greek striker around has to be Vaggelis Pavlidis. Yet another compatriot of mine to have been awarded the Willy van der Kuijlen Trophy as the Eredivisie’s most productive goalscorer (last season with AZ), the 26-year-old was acquired by Benfica last summer for (only) 18 million euros. Money well spent, as Pavlidis has netted 12 times and contributed to another eight goals for the new Taça da Liga winners. 

The next in line

A year his junior, Fotis Ioannidis is the only member of Greece’s attack still playing his football in his home country. Benfica’s cross-town rivals Sporting Lisbon were after his signature all summer long, but although he also attracted the attention of several English clubs the Panathinaikos striker opted to extend his deal until 2028, at the same time becoming the best paid Greek footballer in the country. 

It’s hard to see him seeing out his contract, though. Nowadays the boss of Saudi outfit Al-Khaleej, Yorgos Donis had become the most expensive Greek athlete overall in June 1996, when he left Panathinaikos for Blackburn Rovers, English champs a year earlier. Several more Greek forwards enjoyed success playing abroad after that. Fulham and Marseille paid more than 15 million each to secure the services of recently retired Kostas Mitroglou, who won five pieces of silverware with Benfica and another three with Galatasaray. Fanis Gekas was also a big hit in our neighbouring Turkey, but mostly in Germany, earning Bundesliga top scorer plaudits with lowly Bochum in 2006-’07. And Nikos Machlas helped Ajax Amsterdam to a league and cup double in ’01-’02 – but only after he’d won the European Golden Shoe, the only Greek to do so, with 34 goals in 32 Eredivisie matches for Vitesse. 

The Dutch connection

You might have noticed by now that some of the greatest Greek strikers have flourished in the Netherlands. So watch out for Dimitris Rallis. Born in Zwolle, the 1.89 m. wonderkid has opted to play for his country of origin – and infact scored in his debut with the Greek U19 side. Much like Tzimas, he’s 19 and being nurtured by a grandmaster of scoring: Robin van Persie himself. Don’t be surprised if he were to be the next in a long line of attackers sold by Heerenveen for big bucks. The list includes Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Jon Dahl Tomasson and a certain Yorgos Samaras, a true Celtic legend, largely responsible for seven trophies in a six-and-a-half-year spell in Glasgow.

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