Nikos Giannakopoulos

Nikos Giannakopoulos (Greek: Νίκος Γιαννακόπουλος, born 19 February 1993) is a Greek professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Panetolikos.

Nikos Giannakopoulos
Personal information
Full name Nikolaos Giannakopoulos
Date of birth (1993-02-19) 19 February 1993
Place of birth Tripoli, Greece
Height 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)
Playing position(s) Goalkeeper
Club information
Current team
 Panetolikos
Number 31
Youth career
–2009 Asteras Tripolis
2009–2010 Blackburn Rovers
2010–2012 Udinese
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2012–2015 Panionios 35 (0)
2015–2017 Panathinaikos 1 (0)
2016–2017 → Aris Limassol (loan) 23 (0)
2017–2018 Kerkyra 25 (0)
2018– Panetolikos 17 (0)
National team‡
2011 Greece U19 1 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 19:25, 9 November 2019 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 17 November 2013

Club career

Giannakopoulos started his career in the youth team of Asteras Tripolis, before he joined the youth team of English club Blackburn Rovers in 2009. The Greek club will receive £52,000 for the deal while they will also pocket 30 per cent of any future fee the 16-year-old generates.[1] After a period of a year he joined the youth team of Italian club Udinese Calcio.[2]

He soon however was released and returned to his country joining Panionios. On 27 August 2012, he made his league debut against Aris.[3] He has been the first-choice keeper for the club since the early part of 2013. There was a brief period when Kostas Peristeridis displaced him from top spot again after young Giannakapoulos oversaw a run of 3 straight defeats. But he regained his spot later in the 2013–14 season and has been the first choice ever since. Arguably his best performance came in the early part of his career when he kept a clean sheet against Greek giants, Panathanaikos. He repeated this feat the following season as Panionios beat Panathanaikos 3–0 with Giannakopoulos as a main goalie.

On 29 July 2015, Giannakopoulos signed his four (three years with an option for an additional one) years' contract with Greek giants Panathinaikos for €180,000, adding another high-caliber Greek talent to their squad.[4] On 17 April 2016, in the last game of the 2015–16 season, he made his debut with the club in a 6–1 home win against Panthrakikos. As he is not among the first priorities of Panathinaikos coach Andrea Stramaccioni he signed a long-term year loan with Cypriot club Aris Limassol FC.[5]

On 26 June 2017, Giannakopoulos signed a two-year contract with Kerkyra.[6]

On 4 July 2018, following Kerkyra's relegation to Football League, he joined Panetolikos on a two-year deal.[7]

References
  1. "Big Sam brings young Greek goalkeeper Giannakopoulos to Blackburn". Dailymail. Retrieved 1 January 2015.
  2. "UDINESE – a giugno arriva il baby portiere Giannakopoulos". udineseblog.it. Retrieved 29 January 2011.
  3. "Panionions vs Aris". Soccerway. Retrieved 1 January 2015.
  4. "Οι λεπτομέρειες του συμβολαίου του Γιαννακόπουλου!". www.sdna.gr. Archived from the original on 2 August 2015. Retrieved 29 July 2015.
  5. "Ανακοινώθηκε ο Γιαννακόπουλος στον Άρη Λεμεσού". panathinaikos24.gr. Retrieved 1 August 2016.
  6. "Στην Κέρκυρα ο Γιαννακόπουλος". www.aokkerkyra.gr. Retrieved 26 June 2017.
  7. "Επίσημο: Παίκτης του Παναιτωλικού ο Γιαννακόπουλος". www.sport24.gr. 4 July 2018.
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