Panetolikos turn to youth to build future success

Panetolikos deliver blueprint for success with strong academy set up and partnership with Benfica.

Watch LIVE GREEK TV including full GREEK SPORTS coverage from AGONASport.com! 

Modern football has seen many clubs fall into the trap of spending all-out in an attempt to buy success. However, this has proved to be unsustainable and it often leads to severe repercussions in the long-term, especially in a country such as Greece where uncertainty always reigns supreme.

Panetolikos are leading the way with their academy in an attempt to deliver future success. The Agrinio outfit have a proven track record of producing quality players over the years and it will only get better. They have recently partnered up with Portuguese giants Benfica, in an agreement where players from the Benfica B team get loaned to Panetolikos to play senior football for the first time. In turn, Panetolikos’ best players have the opportunity to move to a well-known club in Europe to test themselves.

They ended last season with two players on loan from Benfica in the form of Guga and Pedro Amaral. In addition to this, young Portuguese attacker Pedro Duarte was signed and is set to be integrated as a key squad member over the summer.

The club nicknamed as the “Canaries” have developed a strong academy which delivered a whopping 17 players to last season’s first team squad. It is worth keeping in mind that last season’s boss Traianos Dellas had 36 players at his disposal, so almost half of the players rose through the academy.

Over the years, Panetolikos have developed strong players from its famed system such as Lucas Villafanez, Amr Warda, Michalis Bakakis, and Nicolas Martinez. All four moved on to Greece’s elite clubs in the form of Panathinaikos, PAOK, AEK, and Olympiacos respectively. Warda went on to play in last year’s FIFA World Cup with Egypt.

In fact, an entire starting 11 can be made from its young core:

GK - Theodoropoulos

CB - Mihaj

CB - D.Gianniotis

CB - Malis

RWB - Liavas

LWB - Parras

MF - Tsingaras

MF - Dalakouras

RW - Belevonis

LW - I.Gianniotis

ST - Duarte

As evidenced from the past, Panetolikos can sell these players for relatively high fees compared to rivals clubs in the future when bigger clubs come calling. This makes the club self-sustainable (something very important in the Greek football landscape) and they can take comfort knowing their strong set up boasts the next in-line waiting for their chance.

Many of the youngsters are already highly sought after, but none more so than Enea Mihaj. The 20-year-old centre back has been linked with moves to European heavyweights such as Benfica, Napoli, and Lech Poznan. This is excluding interest from Greek giants PAOK, AEK, and Olympiacos.

Here is a list of the 16 Academy graduates that have a contract with Panetolikos (it was 17 until Giorgos Mygas moved to Poland on a permanent basis):

Angelos Stamatopoulos (23/4/1997) - GK, contracted until 2021

Dimitris Theodoropoulos (9/5/1998) - GK, contracted until 2022

Nikos Kousiadis (20/5/1997) - GK, contracted until 2021

Giorgos Liavas (12/2/2001) - RB/CB/CM, contracted until 2021

Giannis Prionas (24/9/1998) - RB, out of contract this summer

Enea Mihaj - (5/7/1998) - CB, contracted until 2021

Alexandros Malis (19/3/1997) - CB, contracted until 2020

Dimitris Gianniotis (28/1/1999) - CB, contracted until 2022

Alexandros Parras (12/5/1998) - LB, contracted until 2021

Angelos Tsingaras (24/7/1999) - DM, contracted until 2022

Dimitris Dalakouras (31/3/1999) - CM, contracted until 2022

Stathis Belevonis (6/2/1998) - AM, contracted until 2022

Ilias Gianniotis (5/4/1997) - AM, contracted until 2020

Frederico Duarte (30/3/1999) - FW, contracted until 2021

Stathis Vasiloudis (23/2/1996) - FW, out of contract this summer

Spyros Georgousis (24/7/1999) - ST, out of contract this summer

Giorgos Vakrakos (18/10/1997) -ST, contracted until 2020

Image Source: gazzetta.gr

Thank you for visiting AGONAsport.com, the only English based website for Greek sports fans across the world! Like us on Facebook, follow us on Instagram, and Twitter for all the latest news in Greek Sports!