Chatzigiovanis closer than ever to Panathinaikos exit

Chatzigovanis is nearing a Panathinaikos exit after refusing to accept an improved contract offer in the summer, with several clubs including AEK already linked.

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This time last year, Tasos Chatzigiovanis was setting the Greek Super League on fire. The Panathinaikos Academy graduate emerged as one of the players of the season during the back of the 2018 calendar year. Giorgos Donis built a committed side that was full of Greek youngsters brimming with talent, and Chatzigiovanis was at the forefront.

His performances dropped in 2019 but he was still heralded as one of the players who would be key to the long-term future of Panathinaikos, along with Giannis Bouzoukis and Fanis Mavromatis. Fast forward to this season, Mavromatis finds himself well down the pecking order and well and truly on the periphery, Bouzoukis still remains pivotal, while Chatzigiovanis is virtually no longer in the club’s plans moving forward.

In the case of Chatzigiovanis, the Greens were ready to offer the tricky winger a new and improved contract but this did not eventuate as there was a small dispute in the value of the offer proposed by Nikos Dabizas. The technical director held firm and all of a sudden, Chatzigiovanis is edging towards a sad exit from his boyhood club.

Panathinaikos is all Chatzigiovanis has known. He has been at the club since the age of 16 but the now-22 year old will have to look elsewhere to continue his career. Donis admitted in a recent press conference that he no longers considers the wideman as a starting option, and ironically, he has been only used as a substitute so far this season. Panathinaikos legend Krzysztof Warzycha has come out attacking Chatzigiovanis, stating that he would “give him a ticket in the hand” to leave.

Should he have signed that contract offer a few months ago during the summer, there is no doubt he would have been deemed as a vital first team player ahead of Yohan Mollo and Uffe Bech. He probably would have made a difference to this current Panathinaikos team, during its time of need.

However, it has not panned out like that. Out of contract at season’s end, the Trifylli is hoping to sell Chatzigiovanis in the January transfer window to at least make some money and in turn, aid its finances. There was interest in the summer from an unnamed European club, but nothing eventuated as Dabizas again held firm in his valuation of the player.

Finding a new club should not be difficult for a player of Chatzigiovanis’ talent and reports have already surfaced that cross-town rivals AEK are interested. The Enosi reportedly have the Mytilene-born winger high on their list. Meanwhile, clubs from the Netherlands and Belgium have also been linked. In both instances, it is tipped his new club will wait until after the winter transfer window to begin negotiations with Chatzigiovanis so they can acquire him on a free transfer, instead of having to pay a fee.

by Nick Tsambouniaris

Image Source: to10.gr

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