pash

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.

It could be, but I would sure hate to retain a player and realize he hit his peak last year. I forgot to add to my list of players - Filipe Soares (who had a pretty bad loan spell) and Marios Tsaousis are also scheduled to return. Soares played only eight times (and got one assist), so I doubt Famalicao will activate any purchase clause they had. Tsaousis fared a bit better with 23 appearances, a few assists, and a goal. I'd imagine both will be loaned out again.

I doubt this is true. But it would be in line with our recent history of buying out-of-form former AEK strikers. https://inpaok.com/822630/kroatika-mme-o-paok-ekane-prosfora-se-livagia/

That foul on Konstantelias in the Aris game will apparently sideline him for at least a month. Not great, both for his preseason and for our attempts to get maximum value for him in the transfer market.

Sites are reiterating Red Bull Salzburg's interest in Konstantelias. Come on guys drop 20 million on him, do it, make a splash, you know you want to. Asteras also interested in extending their loan for Lyratzis for another season. We don't really need three RBs, and his contract with us is through June of 2026, so I could see that happening. InPAOK is saying Lucescu wants to keep all three of Kedziora, Meite, and Schwab. I should note that Kedziora is a free agent from Dinamo Kyiv next month (our loan took him through to the end of his original contract), so he and Schwab would be cheap. I am not sure that means we should re-sign them, though - I feel the team could find upgrades for all three players, even though I do like them all. Perhaps this will cause a rift that leads to Razvan leaving again, hahahaaaaaa

Couldn't find the recording of the interview itself, but perhaps this gives a taste of what's to come? Might imply we'll pass on Schwab, for example. https://inpaok.com/822585/to-plano-kai-i-proika-tou-2019/

But can we afford him?!

Noting the current roster here. Names in bold either have expiring contracts (and may be expected to retire ?). Names in italics are rumored to be sold. GKs: Kotarski Z Zivkovic Talichmanidis CBs: Koulierakis Kedziora Troost-Ekong Michailidis Nasberg Fullbacks Baba Rahman Vieirinha Sastre Jonny Otto Rafa Soares Midfielders Marcos Antonio Soualiho Meite Tsingaras Schwab Ozdoev Murg Konstantelias Forwards Taison Zivkovic Despodov Samatta Brandon Thomas (technically end of contract, but with one-year option remaining that will surely be picked up) Tzimas I would expect some B and K19 kids to get called up for the training camp. Here are some names that I am guessing are more likely. We probably will see some of the GKs (like Nader) show up as well. CBs: Panagiotou, Sinanaj Midfielders: Giaxis, Ninua, Andre Ricardo, Quagliata, Brandonjic (is he even on the team? Transfermarkt says he came back in January) Forwards: Hicham Kanis, Panidis Basically, we have a lot of holes to cover. For CBs, I bet Ekong and Nasberg will not be on the final roster, for example. Tsingaras has completely disappeared, so he's probably gone too. And, God willing, we'll find some saps to buy Samatta for a pack of cigarettes and a koulouri.