Giannis Mystakidis ( el, Γιάννης Μυστακίδης; born 7 December 1994) 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 a forward.

Career

Born in

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its metropolitan area, and the capital of the geographic region of ...

, Mystakidis started his career in Germany playing for Regionalliga Südwest club SC Freiburg II. He first played professionally in the 2014–15 season with Pierikos. He can cover all three positions behind the forward, is not predictable in his playing and has good finishes in both short and long distance. Mystakidis scored his first goal for PAOK in an unofficial match against Dnipro. On 16 July 2015, he made his debut with PAOK in an away loss game against Lokomotiva Zagreb for the second qualifying round of the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. ...

. He scored his first goal in 2015–16 season in a 3–1 away win against Kalloni. On 25 August 2016, PAOK extended the contract of the young striker till the summer 2020. On 29 January 2017, he scored the only goal in a 1–0 Superleague Greece away win against Panetolikos. Two days later, he scored another goal in a 2–0 away win against AEL and a week after he scored 2–1

Greek Cup The Greek Football Cup ( el, Κύπελλο Ελλάδος Ποδοσφαίρου), commonly known as the Greek Cup or Kypello Elladas is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation. The Greek Cup is the second most ...

away win against

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 ...

. The 2016–17 season was an establishment year for the young striker, as he had gradually managed to gain the trust of Vladimir Ivić. On 2 April, in the 80th minute of the match against AEL for the 26th day of the Superleague Greece, the 23-year-old ace was forced to request an immediate change after an attempt to avert a throw-out. A day later, Mystakidis had a surgery, faced a cruciate ligament rupture that probably kept him out of the team for six months. On 19 December 2017, he made his return to competitive football, coming on in the 82nd minute during the club's 5–1

away win against

Trikala Trikala ( el, Τρίκαλα; rup, Trikolj) is a city in northwestern Thessaly, Greece, and the capital of the Trikala regional unit. The city straddles the Lithaios river, which is a tributary of Pineios. According to the Greek National Stati ...

. His first appearance came 260 days after the knee injury. He almost scored too, as a firm header was turned aside by the Trikala goalkeeper. Mystakidis received a cut to the right eyebrow after a collision with an opposing player. On 31 January 2018, he signed a six-month contract with rivals Panathinaikos on loan from PAOK, until the end of the 2017–18 season without a purchase option. On 20 August 2018, he signed a long season contract with

PAS Giannina PAS Giannina Football Club ( el, ΠΑΕ ΠΑΣ Γιάννινα 1966), or with its full name Panepirotikos Athlitikos Syllogos Giannina ( el, Πανηπειρωτικός Αθλητικός Σύλλογος Γιάννινα, ''Panepirotic Athleti ...

on loan from PAOK, until the end of the 2018–19 season without a purchase option. The loan contract was terminated on 4 January 2019, six months before it was due to expire. On 2 February 2019, he joined Polish club

Górnik Zabrze Górnik Zabrze Spółka Akcyjna, commonly referred to as Górnik Zabrze S.A. or simply Górnik Zabrze (), is a Polish football club from Zabrze. Górnik is one of the most successful Polish football clubs in history, winning the second-most Po ...

on a six months loan from PAOK. On 30 June 2019, it was confirmed that Mystakidis would spend the 2019–20 season on loan at

Volos Volos ( el, Βόλος ) is a coastal port city in Thessaly situated midway on the Greek mainland, about north of Athens and south of Thessaloniki. It is the sixth most populous city of Greece, and the capital of the Magnesia regional unit ...

. On 14 January 2020, he signed a contract with

Eerste Divisie The Eerste Divisie (, en, First Division) is the second-highest tier of football in the Netherlands. It is linked with the top-level Eredivisie and with the third-level Tweede Divisie via promotion/relegation systems. It is also known as t ...

club De Graafschap until July 2020.

Career statistics

Honours

;PAOK *

: 2016–17, 2017–18

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mystakidis, Giannis 1994 births Living people Greek men's footballers Greek expatriate men's footballers Greece men's under-21 international footballers Greece men's youth international footballers Super League Greece players Super League Greece 2 players Ekstraklasa players Eerste Divisie players SC Freiburg players PAOK FC players S.F.K. Pierikos (football) players PAS Giannina F.C. players Górnik Zabrze players Volos F.C. players Veria NFC players De Graafschap players Xanthi F.C. players Panserraikos F.C. players Expatriate men's footballers in Poland Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands Men's association football wingers Men's association football forwards Footballers from Thessaloniki