Giannis Bouzoukis (

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

: Γιάννης Μπουζούκης; born 27 March 1998) is a Greek professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who plays as an

attacking midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for Super League club

Panetolikos Panetolikos Football Club ( el, ΠΑΕ Παναιτωλικός), or with its full name Panetolikós Yimnastikós Filekpedeftikós Síllogos ( el, Παναιτωλικός Γυμναστικός Φιλεκπαιδευτικός Σύλλογος'' ...

Career

Panathinaikos

Bouzoukis plays mainly as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

and joined

Panathinaikos Panathinaikos Athlitikos Omilos ( el, Παναθηναϊκός Αθλητικός Όμιλος, literally in English: "Panathenaic Athletic Club" or Panathinaikos A.C.), also known simply as Panathinaikós , is a major Greek multi-sport club ba ...

from

Preveza Preveza ( el, Πρέβεζα, ) is a city in the region of Epirus, northwestern Greece, located on the northern peninsula at the mouth of the Ambracian Gulf. It is the capital of the regional unit of Preveza, which is part of the region of Epiru ...

. On 26 August 2018, thanks to an astonishing long-range effort by the talented winger, Panathinaikos achieved a vital 1–0 away win against rivals

Xanthi Xanthi ( el, Ξάνθη, ''Xánthi'', ) is a city in the region of Western Thrace, northeastern Greece. It is the capital of the Xanthi regional unit of the region of East Macedonia and Thrace. Amphitheatrically built on the foot of Rhodope m ...

, in the first matchday of the 2018–19 season. It was his first goal as a professional player. On 1 September 2018, Bouzoukis scored his second consecutive goal against

Lamia LaMia Corporation S.R.L., operating as LaMia (short for ''Línea Aérea Mérida Internacional de Aviación''), was a Bolivian charter airline headquartered in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, as an EcoJet subsidiary. It had its origins from the failed ...

. On 13 January 2019, Bouzoukis helped Panathinaikos to recover well though after half-time when he fired home a precise low shot after picking up possession at the back post following a deep left-wing cross, equalizing for his club in a final 2–2 home draw against

. On 30 January 2019, the 20-year-old forward slid the ball home from close range to round off a superb fast-flowing move down the left flank with Tasos Chatzigiovanis feeding

Federico Macheda Federico Macheda (; born 22 August 1991) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Süper Lig club Ankaragücü. Born in Rome, Macheda began his career with local club Lazio, but joined Manchester United when he turned 1 ...

, whose cross was perfect for the young international who scored the only goal in an away win against

. During this season, Bouzoukis has attracted several rival clubs such as champions-elect PAOK from expressing an interest in the talented young midfielder. Key

players would only be sold should the financial situation at the club become even more dire, but the preference of technical director

Nikos Dabizas Nikos Dabizas ( el, Νίκος Νταμπίζας, born 3 August 1973) is a Greek former professional footballer who played as a defender for Newcastle United, Leicester City, Olympiacos and AEL. He was also in Greece's 2004 European Football ...

in such a scenario, would be to sell to overseas clubs, such as Portuguese giants Benfica that have reportedly expressed an interest and look set to make a €2 million bid for Bouzoukis, who is one of the most sought after young Greek footballers. However, Panathinaikos would be demanding at least double, with reports suggesting the Greens would not consider anything below €5 million. On 7 July 2019, Bouzoukis has agreed to terms on a new and improved contract which runs until the summer of 2022. Bouzoukis now has the opportunity to develop his game at his boyhood club and become a vital player the team can be built around. His resale value should peak over the next few seasons as he continues to flourish and attract serious attention from abroad, which will assist the club’s finances in the long-term. On 25 January 2020, Bouzoukis scored his first goal for the

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and ...

with a penalty kick in a 2–0 away win against AEL.

OFI

On 31 January 2022, OFI announced an agreement with Panathinaikos for the transfer of Giannis Bouzoukis for the next 2,5 years, until the summer of 2024.

Career statistics

Club

Honours

Individual

* Super League Greece Best Young Player of the Year: 2018–19

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bouzoukis, Giannis 1998 births Living people Greek footballers Greece under-21 international footballers Greece youth international footballers Panathinaikos F.C. players OFI Crete F.C. players Super League Greece players Association football midfielders Footballers from Preveza