Transfer News and Rumors - Summer 2024

[Bananas]

I think we should be concentrating on not selling anyone ... where possible ... given that we realistically have our best chance ever at qualifying for the Champions League.  In previous seasons we had the more difficult path playing stronger teams.  By winning the title we at least give ourselves a better chance.

Bringing in new players is not the problem per se.  It's if these players are replacements for *starting 11* players.  If for example, Kotarski, Koulierakis, Konstantelias are sold and let's say Meite isn't bought, then that's 4 starting 11 players that must be replaced for the qualifiers.  That's not exactly a recipe for winning, especially given how long Lucescu takes to acclimatise players to have the right men-ta-li-ty as I love to hear him say.

As for the 15 million for Konstantelias, I don't know, it seems a bit meh.  These days 15 million is nothing special at all.  Go look at the transfer history of mid table French or Italian teams and they spend that and more on players like it's nothing.

At the very least we should be holding on to the players we have for the first qualifier.  That game is KEY.  We win, we are guaranteed Conference League football.  We lose ... I don't even want to think about it.

[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

[PaokCT]

That is correct my bald Bostonian friend. If we turn down a 15 million offer, and prevent him from making 1.5 mil per year he could become disgruntled. That would do no service to anyone. If he wants to go to Austria and we can make 15+ (due to % sales), allow him. 

[Bananas]

Ela re paidia.  It's not the old days where we had financial problems and when we sold players we pulled our pants down and handed the buying club the vaseline as well.  Please sir can I have some more.

We don't need to sell so just don't.  Offer the kid 1 million or a bit more - he deserves it.  And hold out for a decent number.  It's not like we're stopping him from going to the EPL, La Liga, Bundesliga or even Serie A.  It's the f**king Austrian league which is basically on par with our own league.

[PaokCT]

Yes, but if you pay him 1 million more, EVERYONE else is going to ask for a raise as well. Next thing you know, your budget is increasing by 10-15 million. We can not afford that. 

[Blackhawk]

The 13 mil infusion into the operating budget of PAE PAOK is not for this past season. It's for the previous season, where we failed to eliminate Levski Sofia. That was a financial disaster with big losses. 

As for selling players, apparently the Konstantelias side (agents, family) are pushing for the transfer to happen, however PAOK is demanding minimum of 20 mil. I would hold off on selling him. Increase his salary from 500K to 1.3 mil (same as Zivkovic) and let him at least play one more season with us. If we qualify to the league stage of CL that would be a good showcase for the player. If we get control of EPO through Gagatsis we can install a NT coach that will be friendly to Konstantelias giving him starting spot in the lineup. That will be more exposure for him. That can only drive the price for the player up. Of course keeping him on we also run the risk of a serious injury, which would have the opposite effect. I still believe that we will make at least one player sale, but I don't think it will be Konstantelias.

[pash]

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?

[italosPAOK4]

i think we should sell all of them Ntelias, Koulierakis, Kotarski, Baba and whoever else we can (Despodof?, Zivkovic?) now that we are champions, bring new ones, and with all that super money go for building Nea Toumpa and training center

hopefully we can enter the ch. l. groups and earn even much more

let me remind you that olimpiakos won the conference with a bunch of players coming on January

[paokarag4]

We are being liked with Mady Camara from Olympiacos who will be a free agent at the end of this month. He had a falling out with them, I believe he posted something on social media about wanting to leave or criticising Olympiacos in someway and did not play in the 2nd half of the season at all. 

At his best he is a very good box-to-box midfielder who runs all day and can score from midfield. He also adds something our midfield lacks, which is pace. Not sure what sort of Camara we would be getting given he hasn't played for 6 months but on paper it wouldn't be a bad move.

Not sure if Olympiacos would intervene and make it hard for him to come but given it seems he and the club have had a falling out I can't see them being successful in any attempts to dissuade him. 

[pash]

I did not expect him. Didn't something happen with a missed penalty or something? Would probably be a good pairing with Meite, one would think. 

This one, I would not expect us to announce until after the 30th...

[Blackhawk]

Reports are that only the announcements remain to make the transfer of Antonis Tsiftsis (goaltender) from Tripoli to PAOK official. Apparently we are paying Tripoli 300K plus 30% of any resale for the player. It's also looks that as part of the deal, Lyratzis will remain a Tripoli player on a free transfer.

[pash]

That means we are valuing this goalkeeper very high...is this guy that worth it? Is there some buzz I'm not seeing? 300k for 70% of his rights implies a value of around 430k (right in line with Transfermarkt), but Lyratzis could probably fetch 500k-1 million just on his own. They must be really high on Liavas (who's only a year younger than Lyratzis)...

[Blackhawk]

Few times I saw Liavas when we played Panaitolikos he did not show me anything special. On top of that few years back he had a serious injury which left him on the sidelines for over 9 months.

As for Tsiftsis, we might be grooming him to become our no. 1 keeper when we part with Kotarski.

In other news we offered Camara 1.4 mil per year for 3 years and gave him a short deadline to reply. If he does not accept the offer we are going to Plan B for that position. Camara is apparently also talking to some Spanish team.

[pash]

From what I understand, Camara really wants to leave Greece (probably related to his loan spell at Roma). I would imagine we'll be his last choice, so I hope we are holding true to the deadline. I don't want us to be jerked around again, waiting for a guy who doesn't want to dangle us in front of other teams so they can snap him up.

Anyway, it looks like the Baba Rahman - Brentford rumors are starting up again. If we sell, might mean we move on Giannoulis again. Hopefully he's the same player, if so.

Also hot off the press, there's a new rumor that we are interested in Martin Braithwaite, who had a pretty good season at Espanyol this year. His age (32) tells me he'd be a shorter-term acquisition, however.

-edit- I should also note that it appears Braithwaite's buy-out clause is only 600k, since Espanyol failed to get promoted.

Edited June 4 by pash

[pash]

Serbs are saying we want this guy: https://www.transfermarkt.us/guelor-kanga/profil/spieler/231306

I have a feeling most of these central midfielder rumors are building out a hierarchy of choices - Lucescu might want Camara, but if he doesn't come, I could see us approaching Hartel next. Kanga plays in a worse league and would not be free, so it's hard to see why we'd want him over the other two (and I can't imagine we'll end up getting multiple central midfielders if we've got Meite, Schwab, Ozdoyev, and Tsiggaras on the roster).

[paokarag4]

Surely Hartel is a pipe dream? With the season he just had (17 goals and 13 assists) in Germany's 2nd tier to help lead his team to promotion, he'll have Bundesliga teams banging down the door to sign him.

Would be a great signing but hard to imagine him coming to Greece at 28 with those stats. 

[Blackhawk]

Rumors are Camara is demanding 2 mil salary, and we are offering 1.5 mil. If true, I would just stop talking to him now and go to the next player on the list.

[pash]

That's a pretty wild ask. Agreed we should move on. Hiring an Olympiakos guy doesn't sit right with me, either.

Zaragoza apparently interested in Erik Esposito (who we allegedly are also interested in), and might think of Brandon Thomas as their back up plan. Would be a shame if we sold him to them, though.

This guy also popping up today. I think left wing is a big hole for us, we really need to get someone in there. Taison can probably take us through qualifying but it's only a matter of time before he's run into the ground...

https://www.transfermarkt.us/felicio-milson/profil/spieler/589374

[PaokCT]

Salzburg is ready to pay 17.5 mil with 18% resale rights for Konstantelias. This is a no brainer, we do this and we can get 3 top quality starters with just the $ from the sale. 

[pash]

Uhhh I thought our last loan took him through the end of his contract? Perhaps the invasion means each time he gets loaned out, the contract is automatically extended? Is that even a thing??

https://inpaok.com/823905/o-paok-zitaei-ananeosi-daneismou-tou-kentziora/

[Blackhawk]

Somewhere on Thessaloniki sports radio station I heard that is exactly what happens. Dinamo Kiev has the right to extend his contract automatically by 6 months thanks to UEFA directive. Not sure how true that is. 

[Blackhawk]

The latest rumor floating around is that Salzburg's "final" offer for Konstantelias will be for 17.5 mil for 83% of the player, with PAOK keeping 17% share. Additionally there will be 15% of any resale price going to PAOK. It is also reported that Konstantelias has already agreed with Salzburg for a 5-year contract worth around 8 mil.

In other new, we agreed with Benfica for Meite, which will cost us 2 mil for him to be released from Benfica. Not a bad deal as the original clause was 4 mil. Things must close to being finalized as it was reported that our new CEO Maria Gonchareva travelled to Lisbon on a business trip.

[Blackhawk]

Rumors galore concerning Konstantelias. Now the Salzburg offer is 17. mil and 17.5% resale. They are making things up as they go. 

In other news Pelkas resigned with his current Turkish team, so he is not coming back to PAOK.

[Athens4]

Toskitsis says the Konstantelias transfer is a done deal and the PAE are simply waiting for Ivan's green light. Real shame.

[PAOKSYD]

Toskitisis also said camara is a done deal...