Blackhawk

Link for the game:

Meniscus tear is the diagnosis. Will be out for over a month, if not longer.

1:1 at halftime. Mythou scored the PAOK goal. We had at least 5 other good chances to score. Expect a completely different lineup in the 2nd half.

Link to the game:

Starting lineup for today's pre-season friendly:

Another player we bid goodbye in recent days was also Sastre.

Meite has sciatic nerve issue. He had the option of having a surgery right after the end of the season, but decided not to do it. It also did not help that Lucescu played him non-stop without any breaks. In any case I don't see him seeing any action until August/September. Michailidis has a chronic problem with his knee, which requires fluid drainage on regular basis. He just finished one of those procedures and is slowly getting back into action. The other two injured players are Despodov and Shoretirre. Also sitting the last couple practices is Pavlenka.

The first 3 games are regular 90-minute games, and so are the last 2, but those will take place on the same day 3-hours apart.

Our final pre-season games schedule is as follows: 01-July, 18:00 EEST: PAOK - SK Beveren (Nino Sparta, Zaltbommel) 04-July, 15:30 EEST: PAOK - KVC Westerlo (Nino Sparta, Zaltbommel) 07-July, 19:00 EEST: PAOK - AEK Larnaca (Nino Sparta, Zaltbommel) 11-July, 14:00 EEST: PAOK - Twente Enschede (GAME 1) (Sportpark de Rode Veste, Huissen) 11-July, 17:00 EEST: PAOK - Twente Enschede (GAME 2) (Sportpark de Rode Veste, Huissen) All games will be televised on the OPEN TV Hybrid channel.

Taison signed for one more year dropping his salary from 700K to 500K. Apparently he plans on retiring after the 2026-2027 season.

NAME: Aritz ELUSTONDO Irribarria POSITION: Center Back JERSEY NUMBER: 6 BIRTHDAY: 28-March-1994 BIRTH PLACE: Beasain, Spain HEIGHT 1.80 m PAOK DEBUT: 06.01.2026 (PAOK – Atromitos 1:1) NT DEBUT: PREVIOUS TEAMS: Real Sociedad, Beasain, Real Sociedad B CONTRACT ENDS: 30-June-2028 (+1 year option) SALARY: € 1,200,000 per season

Aritz Elustondo is officially a player of PAOK. He signed a 2+1 year contract worth 1.2 mil per season. He will wear number 6.

Happy about pappou Taison. He can contribute for one more year as long as the new coach uses him wisely.

Zivkovic, Zafeiris and Gugesasvili rejoined the team and took part in today's practices.

He played very well. This WC should only increase his selling value. I would not rush into selling him to the Atlases of the World and wait for the WC to finish and shop him around since he no longer wants to play for us.

Sanchez gets the start against Czechia.

Apparently so. Not that it's any of our business. Also, I really doubt that this is the reason for his decision. It hasn't been an issue preventing him from playing on the NT for the previous 3 years.

It's only a temporary retirement according to the announcement. It is something EPO was informed about 2 months ago and they could not change his mind. Not sure if the real reason is his kid or the one he is expecting. Could be something concerning their health, which is not really any of our business. Selected Greek social media (some with anti-PAOK bias) are picking up on his religious beliefs (Jehovah Witness) claiming that that is the reason for his decision. However, if I was Konstantelias and I was constantly pushed aside so Bakasetas could start, I would also think twice about my role on the national team. Interesting fact: Konstantelias played 18 game on the NT. He was a starter in only 5 of them, and he never played the full 90 minutes in any of the games.

Baba started on the bench against England, and entered the game in the 90th minute.

All our pre-season games will be televised on OPEN TV.

The pre-season games are almost set. The first 3 are confirmed, while the last one is not officially confirmed yet. 01-July, 17:00 EEST: PAOK - SK Beveren 04-July: PAOK - Westerlo FC (Nino Sparta, Zaltbommel) 07-July: PAOK - AEK Larnaca (Nino Sparta, Zaltbommel) 11-July: PAOK - Twente Enschede

The team's first practice took place today and was conducted with our new coach. Our two World Cup players Baba and Sanchez were absent. Also absent were Zivkovic, Zafeiris and Gugesasvili who will join the team on June 25. Thymianis, Camara, and Michailidis practiced individually, while Despodov and Meite underwent physical therapies. All the players that were on loan last season where also present at the practice, including Chalov, Lyratzis, Shoretire, and Gomez. The following players from the U19 and the 'B' team also took part in today's practice: Avrabos (CB), Apetenok (CB), Dunga (LB), Kosidis (RB), Sarris (DM) , Kottas (CB), Bataoulas (CB), Tsopouroglou (CM), Balde (LW), Berdos (LW)

In any case let's just beat Kiev or Cluj and continue in EL. We really F***ed ourselves by not winning the Greek Cup. We would at a minimum have secured a Conference League Phase spot and start our European campaign in August.

Alessio Lisci officially our new coach: