pash

I'm not sure how I feel about this (apart from the positive fact that it would give us fewer games/an earlier end to the season): https://www.sdna.gr/podosfairo/1203659_sto-trapezi-i-allagi-format-toy-protathlimatos-me-plei-mono-gia-toys-tesseris So basically we'll have five European spots going forward, and the play offs will be split into three groups, one of which will compete for that last Conference League spot? Kind of insulting to the rest of the teams that the top four (which - let's be serious - are already decided) will exclusively compete for the championship. Get rid of the play offs entirely, damn it.

I guess Gagatsis officially announced today he'll be leaving his position as part of this run for president of the EPO. Fenerbahce may be interested in Konstantelias as well; let's get a few more rich teams in there please, so I can see an actual bidding war. Allegedly we are basically in agreement in Kedziora and Schwab for their return, and the talking heads are saying Meite might be only 2.5mm to acquire. That would be a big win (and of course, bringing Lucescu's guys back might sway him to stay as well). Thimianis may also have agreed terms, and so should just be a matter of time. Tsiftsis apparently will only be 200-250k to acquire, as well. There is also a newer rumor that both PAOK and Olympiakos are interested in signing Marios Chrysovergis (who I believe will be a free agent). You might remember his name, as he is a product of our academies that we loaned out to an Italian team (and then gave him away for free). I am not sure why we would want someone who only lasts a few months at a time in the Italian fourth division, but perhaps he'd be reinforcement for our B team. https://www.transfermarkt.com/marios-chrysovergis/profil/spieler/1055998 I forget: for players whose contracts expire on the 30th - since they are freed of obligations due to the summer break, are we actually able to announce them prior to the ending of their previous contracts?

@PaokCT is too bashful to share this excellent post he found, giving estimated earnings for all of the teams they expect to compete in the League phase. Just imagine what we could do with this money. If you follow the link, there's a whole thread giving support for the #s. I'll let you guys decide if it's accurate, though.

Kougias is one of the funniest people in sports. Blackhawk has some saying about him, I think? That he's a clown or something? Accurate, whatever it was. I truly cannot pin down what he (Kougias) actually believes. I will say, though, that there's absolutely no reason why Olympiakos, AEK, and Panathinaikos should like each other. They should be at each other's throats, just as we are with Aris. And whatever shady team takes up the Iraklis mantle, one day. This is only natural.

Thank you, my wooden-shoed guardian angel!

This is kind of interesting - we gain a place in the seedings if Real Madrid wins: https://inpaok.com/823343/to-endiaferon-tou-paok-gia-ton-teliko-tou-champions-league/ I should also note that @Dutch Eagle's favorite site says there are five Greek teams in UEFA competitions this summer, which I do not think is accurate? https://kassiesa.net/uefa/data/method5/crank2024.html

How so? Because Olympiakos dared to beat AEK?

I think that even if 15 million seems "meh," that we're still very far from being able to command that kind of price from other leagues. Would love to be proven wrong, but we aren't Benfica. Also: it is rather telling that there have been no rumors for teams other than Leipzig's B team being interested in him. Anyway, Besiktas strikes back: And I guess now Cagliari is interested in Lucescu (?) https://www.sport24.gr/football/loytseskoy-i-kaliari-echei-sto-stochastro-to-roymano-techniko-toy-paok-symfona-me-tin-corriere-dello-sport.10325498.html

Great context for subsequent seasons. I just have so little hope that the other teams will contribute hahaha

That is a great question. Unfortunately it doesn't look like it helps, apart from giving Olympiakos an advantageous entry into the EL. Right now, it looks like: PAOK - 2nd Qualifying Round for Champions League Olympiakos - direct qualification to League Phase for Europa League (for winning the Conference League) Panathinaikos - 2nd Qualifying Round for Europa League AEK - 2nd Qualifying Round for Conference League Had Olympiakos not won, they would have been in the Conference League, in the same qualifying round AEK is in. Instead, Greece's berth for that position is vacated. My guess is that Panathinaikos will fail to make it to the EL (there are some very good teams in there, and they are characteristically unseeded). If we screw up, we might join them in the Conference League.

We're kind of at the point where 13 million is probably not making a big dent - I don't think that even covers wages for a year. However, there's another possibility - if financial fair play essentially caps any yearly inflows by ownership, but does not cap aggregate inflows across years (I'm not sure if this is the case), then he could be just contributing the max he can each year, regardless of how much the team actually needs. That would build up the team's cash position for any future uses. Just a thought, though. Also, to circle back on PaokCT's post - if we get a handful of rotational players and then four starter level dudes, we could be seeing some significant outflows. And if we get ~15mm for Konstantelias, and manage to sign that Russian dude as his replacement (as a free agent), then we will be in a fantastic position to spend elsewhere.

Yeah, Besiktas could easily afford the price. While this could just be twitter banter, there is a very real danger that they could snatch him away from us. Fortunately, there are also other rumors floating around - Mourinho is available, and might be interested. https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/40184004/besiktas-president-says-club-talks-hire-jose-mourinho From the article: "He said he would think about it and give us an answer. He responded after a while and said he would like to meet again in Italy next week. "We [have] met Mourinho's financial expectations. We are prepared to satisfy his salary demands. We will evaluate his hiring with the board of directors. If we reach an agreement with Mourinho, we will recommend that he includes [ex-Besiktas player] Ricardo Quaresma in the [coaching] team." -edit- I know every news site reads us, so perhaps this was written by Mr Tsalgatidis to make me feel better. https://inpaok.com/823306/o-loutseskou-ekopse-ton-vicha-ton-tourkon/

For sure. Turks are apparently going nuts with Lucescu rumors btw. New set today saying he's meeting some Besiktas people in Thessaloniki (though I thought he had already gone back to Romania??). It would be just like us to lose him, and therefore all of our progress.

They would have been stupid not to, with his numbers. Good news for our bank account I guess, but it's a shame they didn't get promoted. Made the buy even more of a no-brainer for them. Also good news: Savvidis has plowed another 13 million into the club (an additional equity investment).

I kept looking at that Klopp book hahaha My favorite bit was when Kolkas gave a (very leading IMO) question about how important this trophy was. And Lucescu was like nah fam the Asian Champions League was the best.

We might also be interested in Zouglis from Asteras. He's a 20-year-old winger who seems able to play on both sides. Makes a lot more sense than buying yet another right back. https://www.transfermarkt.us/nikolaos-zouglis/profil/spieler/814525

Oooh, things might be moving fast with the li'l guy: https://inpaok.com/823161/apokalypsi-inpaok-etoimazetai-gia-afstria-o-konstantelias/ https://www.sdna.gr/podosfairo/1202523_protasi-15-ekat-eyro-tis-saltsmpoyrgk-gia-ton-konstantelia If the details are correct, this could be a very good deal for us. Looks like we might be seeing progress with renewing Schwab soon, too.

Thanks big daddy Salzburg may be coming back with a €15mm offer for Konstantelias, allegedly with a €1.5mm salary and some bonuses to the player. I would definitely take 15, if I were PAOK...

As predicted, Pablo Garcia is on his way to Atromitos. Good luck to him. I had gotten used to them actually being decent; he might be just the guy to right the ship.

Our boy sat down for a one on one interview with my most hated journo, Stavros Kolkas. I'm only about ten minutes in, but pretty good so far.

So you think we'd ditch Rafa Soares? I am not sure I see the point in re-hiring him. As for these Hellenic scrubs - I have said many times that I'd rather have Greek rotational players than the third-tier foreigners the team hires for those positions. So I am fine with this, but I think their choices of position players that don't play in positions of need are weird. Except for the Panserraikos guy, that is. I don't follow the homegrown players part - what is the rule specifically? I thought we just needed "domestic" (read: EU) players for this?

So many rumors! So many free agents! https://www.transfermarkt.com/andre-ramalho/profil/spieler/175792 We're also rumored to be acquiring Antonis Tsiftis from Asteras. He is a keeper with one year left on his contract. https://www.transfermarkt.com/antonis-tsiftsis/profil/spieler/390539 We are also rumored to be acquiring Georgios Liavas, who plays RB for Panaitolikos. Two years left on his contract. This means we'd have potentially six RBs on the roster, were we to bring Lyratzis and Kedziora to preseason (Thimianis apparently also plays the position). https://www.transfermarkt.com/georgios-liavas/profil/spieler/481676 Sport24 is saying that we're close to an agreement with Benfica for Meite, but the player is "weighing his options." Also, because I can't resist, there is a hilarious rumor on transfermarkt about us being linked with Anthony Martial. The conversation shows this is totally legit. https://www.transfermarkt.com/anthony-martial-to-paok-thessaloniki-/thread/forum/343/thread_id/14549/page/1#anchor_21810

A few sites are reporting we may be making an offer to Konstantinos Thimianis, who is about to become a free agent. He scored four goals for them last season. https://www.transfermarkt.us/konstantinos-thymianis/profil/spieler/481680 https://www.sport24.gr/football/paok-metagrafes-sto-cheri-toy-dikefaloy-i-oloklirosi-tis-metagrafis-toy-thymiani.10323434.html Not sure that I buy that the team specifically wants to buy Greek players, but I would much rather they take a chance on these guys than scrubs like Nasberg. I would note, however, that I looked through most of Panserraikos' play-off lineups and didn't see him there. Makes me wonder... Anyway, here's a highlights video. He seems to play both CB and DM, judging by the highlights.

Looks like we now know who every team that will be competing this summer is. Not going to copy and paste it because it's simply too much info (and it doesn't really change the above convo)... The worst draw we could get, still would be vs Steaua (FCSB). There are some other teams that could be problematic for us, if they were not already high up there in coefficient points, but Steaua seems to be the only one to avoid coming out out of the first qualifying round. We will get our draw for the second qualifying round on the 19th, and then apparently it'll take a full month to learn who our third round opponents will be, should we progress to that point. That's probably because of the Euro 2024 tournament, which is starting in about three weeks. Here are the links to what I was eyeballing: https://kassiesa.net/uefa/seedcl2024.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024–25_UEFA_Champions_League_qualifying_phase_and_play-off_round#Second_qualifying_round

Be still my beating heart, we have so many rumors! Attacking midfielder from Russia, Anton Miranchuk: https://www.transfermarkt.us/anton-miranchuk/profil/spieler/255451 - he is an upcoming free agent. Another random name is Marcel Hartel, who plays CM for St Pauli: https://www.transfermarkt.us/marcel-hartel/profil/spieler/189073 - I think we should hire him just based on what I've heard about that club tbh https://www.instagram.com/p/C7WCm0boHod/ Anyway, Miranchuk would really only make sense if we sell Konstantelias. Unless Lucescu would plan to play one of those attacking midfielders as left wingers. As for Hartel, I could see it. We could potentially be losing three midfielders, after all.