TransferMarkt list's Giannoulis' value at £5.4m, so £6.7m including add-ons would seem to be good value for a highly rated 25 year old with 1.5 years left on his contract. For what it's worth, Wiki is now showing that he's on loan to us. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dimitris_Giannoulis
Good afternoon Norwich fans, PAOK fan here. Giannoulis is a very very good player and is a rare example of a player from the Greek league that his physical attributes are perfect for english football. The guy runs up and down the wing like it is nothing. He just never gets tired and he is super fast. His offensive game is really really good most of the time, with well timed crosses and nice technical touches with the ball. Really good decision making, it is like having an attacking midfielder at the left back. He is very efficient in giving the ball forward, his progressive game is on flick. His weak spot is his defence, his insticts are a little bit meh. His form right now is not the best we have seen, but still he is maybe the top player of our club. You can expect a player with ridiculous work ethic that gets better game by game, and I believe the motivation of playing in PL next year will do wonders for him. Potential 30M player if things work out well. There was a strong debate between who is the best greek left back, between him and Tsimikas who currelty plays for Liverpool, and in our national team almost always Giannoulis started and Tsimikas was on bench. Comparing with Akpom, a former player that currently plays for Middlesborough, Giannoulis impact on the team was much greater. You can see in the following video after 3:00 how he dismantled Benfica's defense this summer with two incredible runs. PAOK has issues with financial fair play and the player wants to make the next step, so this is why we kinda accept this move. In summer we rejected a 7 million offer from Atalanta for him and considered the offer a joke. Take good care of the lad and give him some time to adapt to english football, I am sure you will be impressed! PS: If you are interested about other prospects, we also have a wonderkid with tremendous work ethic and already an international, 18 year old Christos Tzolis, a winger-forward that everytime he touches the ball something good happens. You can also see some good crosses from Giannoulis in this video. PS2: Posted also on another Norwich forum.
The modern game is starting to get quite baffling to us oldies. Left backs were always defenders and that was that. The only time that Ron Ashman crossed the half way line was to take penalties. We got used to the idea of wingbacks who overlapped as an extra attacking option but now we seem to have a generation of full backs whose weakness is defending. Whatever next?
Strikers picked by their ability to lead a press, attacking midfielder by their tracking back, goalkeepers chosen by what they can do with the ball at their feet.....
The translation: Dimitrios Giannoulis goes to Norwich on loan with a mandatory odc if they manage to be promoted to Premier. Under normal conditions, more money could have been made for him, but considering that the contract ends in 2022, it is not all bad business. Low very sensitive for PAOK, yes. The Greek pronunciation of his name is: Theemeetreeoh Yeeanoulis Dimitrios Giannoulis (But I'm sure Chris Goreham may come up with his own version!)
Indeed. Indeed. Poor old Joe Hart who, because of his height and technical ability, was one of the top shot stoppers in the Country couldn't get a game because of his lack of passing ability. GK's used to just hoof the ball as high and as far as they could.
I think he's a very different fullback - much more traditional. Lewis is way more fashionable - flying wing back style, great going forward, can get caught out of position. I would say on balance that Lewis is a better player and that's reflected largely by the levels they are playing at, but I agree with you that in the context of our team and what it really needs, Quintilla is a better fit because actually we needed shoring up defensively.
A flying wing back is expected to make assists . Can't remember too many goals coming from Lewis crossing or passing into the box, but he was often caught out of position leaving our left side with it's pants down. Quintilla is the only one that can take a corner too
The first left back I ever saw play was Joe Mullett. He needed first aid and oxygen if he ventured into the opponents half and he was a defender pure and simple.
Lewis seems to have been found out in a fairly massive way since his move to Newcastle. We've made nearly £30m out of them for Jacob Murphy and Lewis. Good business for us, perhaps not so much for the toon.
Adam Drury was that way inclined as well. Excellent defensive LB but seldom ventured forward. The exception was when he scored with a header late on to earn a 4-4 draw with Boro in the PL, to everyone's shock and amazement.
Going back to that era Phil Kelly was the first full back I can remember venturing forward although nowhere near what they do today.
Thanks Karson, great to get the opinion of a fan that’s seen Gianoulis play regularly. This wonderkid looks pretty decent too!