Friday Frappé: Retsos headed down a road well traveled

As Panagiotis Retsos closes in on a loan move to Sheffield United, AGONAsport’s Peter Katsiris takes a look at the similarities between his career path and that of Kyriakos Papadopoulos.

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As the January transfer window winds to a close across Europe on Friday evening, it appears there will be just enough time for Panagiotis Retsos to secure a loan move to Sheffield United.

Two-and-half years after making the switch to the Bundesliga giants Bayer Leverkusen, Retsos appears to be desperate to secure the next stop in his career as a turbulent time in Germany has seen the South African-born Greek international a regular benchwarmer for Leverkusen.

 Retsos, 21, has had a difficult time reasserting himself back into Peter Bosz’s plans after three separate injuries sidelined him for nearly the entirety of last season. Just six appearances across three competitions this season has made it clear Retsos lags far behind the likes of Sven Bender and Jonathan Tah in the Leverkusen depth chart.

Named to UEFA.com’s list of ones to watch in 2020, it’s clear that Retsos needs playing time in order to live up to the potential Leverkusen saw in him when the German side paid Olympiacos a then-record fee for a Greek player at €17.5m in 2017.

Although a loan move could be seen as just the right tonic to get Retsos’ career back on track, his destination this January might not be what is needed. Moving to a club that already boasts five center-backs and an established Premier League back trio of John Egan, Chris Basham, and Jack O’Connell, Retsos’ move to Bramall Lane might feature with an established center-back pairing at Sheffield United, it seems unlikely Retsos will get the playing time he needs in order to take the next step in his career.

Perhaps a benefit to Retsos is that Sheffield are still alive in the FA Cup with a favorable tie against either Cardiff or Reading on the docket in the next round. However, manager Chris Wilder doesn’t seem to be willing to steer away from the trio of defenders that have already helped the Blades enjoy a brilliant start to life in the Premier League after winning promotion last season.

While a move to the Premier League is generally seen as a high point for most players, at this stage Retsos needs a move to a club where he can actually work his way into the starting eleven.

It’s a storyline that has played out time-and-time again for many Greek youngsters, with an eerily similar path followed by Kyriakos Papadopoulos. Like Retsos, Papadopoulos was seen as one of the next top talents to come out of Greece when he completed a modest €2m move to Schalke at the young age of 18 in 2010.

After an impressive start to life in Germany, Papadopoulos’ career was rocked with numerous stints on the sidelines, prompting Schalke to look for other options to shore up the Royal Blues’ backline.

A loan move to Leverkusen for the duration of the 2014/2015 season was enough to convince Leverkusen to make the deal permanent ahead of the 2015/2016 season. An injury-riddled campaign that year saw Papadopoulos fall down the Leverkusen depth chart before being loaned out to RB Leipzig and then Hamburg over the course of the 2016/2017 season.

Finally securing a move to Hamburg in July of 2017, Papadopoulos has suffered four separate injuries since his move to Hamburg was made permanent, including a 229-day stint on the sidelines that saw the Katerini-native miss a whopping 27 games last season.

A further blow to Papadopoulos’ confidence came just this month after it was revealed Hamburg were willing to part with the 28-year-old. It appeared that Papadopoulos was set to complete a move to Chinese outfit Shanghai Shenhua, but the club suddenly lost interest despite Papadopoulos already travelling to China for a short training stint. Papadopoulos’ career remains in limbo despite rumours of a move to Dynamo Moscow, but if no move can be sorted out before Friday’s deadline then it appears Papadopoulos will be forced to settle for another six months in Germany’s second tier.

While it would be impossible to predict such horrible luck with injuries for Papadopoulos, or even Retsos for that matter, questions surrounding the timing of both players’ moves to Germany are unavoidable. Both Papadopoulos and Retsos have proved over time that consistent playing time would go a long way to help unleash the potential they were associated with at an early age. Questions about durability aside, the opportunity to at least make regular appearances is what Papadopoulos needed at an early age.

Although Retsos still has years ahead of him, settling for a spot on the bench isn’t going to do himself or the future of the Greek national team any favours; even if that bench belongs to a Premier League side.

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