Kyriakos Papadopoulos ( greek : Κυριάκος Παπαδόπουλος ; born 23 February 1992 ) is a greek professional football player who plays as a center back for Super League baseball club Atromitos and the Greece national team. Having made his first league appearances for Olympiacos at the age of 15, Papadopoulos moved to Germany in 2010 to join Schalke 04 and scored on his aged debut for Greece the following class, aged 19. however, his career progress in the Bundesliga was hampered by a sequence of injuries over several seasons .

Club career [edit ]

Olympiacos [edit ]

Born in Katerini, Papadopoulos was playing for hometown club Svoronos Katerinis in July 2007 when he was invited on test to train with the RCD Espanyol youth team during pre-season, with a opinion to giving the player a role in the young team. Papadopoulos, however, performed well enough for the club ‘s management staff to fast-track him to the reserve team, offering him a condense immediately. [ 2 ]

Olympiacos scouts were besides mindful of the prodigy ‘s talents, however, and the early coach of Olympiacos, George Louvaris, was promptly to secure a bargain with Papadopoulos ‘ father Nikos, therefore bringing him to Piraeus. He immediately featured in several of Olympiacos ‘ pre-season friendlies, three league games and three greek Cup games. The 2007–08 season was promising for Papadopoulos. He made his competitive introduction for Olympiacos in the Greek Superleague as a utility during a 3–1 succeed over Atromitos on 2 December 2007, [ 3 ] thus becoming the youngest actor to always play in the Greek league at the age of 15 years and 283 days. [ 4 ] He besides made the substitutes judiciary in the UEFA Champions League against Real Madrid and Lazio, and featured in several greek Cup games. If Papadopoulos had featured in any Champions League games, he would have broken the record for the youngest actor to ever compete in the contest by about two years. In September 2008, Papadopoulos signed a fresh compress with Olympiacos, which included a £4.6 million publish clause, over three years. On 2 November 2008, he made his first league appearance of the 2008–09 season for Olympiacos at home plate to Ergotelis in a 2–0 dwelling win .

Schalke 04 [edit ]

On 23 June 2010, german club Schalke 04 announced that they had signed Papadopoulos on a four-year deal, keeping him until 2014. [ 5 ] On 21 August 2010, Papadopoulos made his Bundesliga debut for the club in a 2–1 loss against Hamburger SV. On 25 August 2011, in the reservation round of the UEFA Europa League, he scored his first goal for Schalke in a 6–1 winnings over HJK Helsinki. [ 6 ] On 1 December, in a group stagecoach game in the Europa League, Papadopoulos scored the open goal in a 2–1 acquire over Steaua București. On 17 December, Papadopoulos scored his first finish in the Bundesliga in a 5–0 acquire over Werder Bremen and scored the following game on 21 January 2012 in a 3–1 acquire over VfB Stuttgart. Since joining Schalke from Olympiacos, Papadopoulos has played in over 70 matches in all competitions, scoring five goals and has ultimately gathered deference and praise from all over Europe due to his dogged and nice defending considering his new age .
ahead of the 2012–13 season, italian club Milan were matter to in signing Papadopoulos. After showing interest, Schalke accused Milan of making an illegal approach for Papadopoulos without the club sleep together. [ 7 ] besides concerned were russian giants Zenit Saint Petersburg, but when their £16 million offer for Papadopoulos was accepted by Schalke, Papadopoulos rejected the motivate, opting to stay in Germany. [ 8 ] In September 2012, Papadopoulos signed a new contract with Schalke that will keep him at the club until 2016. [ 9 ] On matchday two of the 2012–13 season, Papadopoulos scored his inaugural finish of the season, and third base in the Bundesliga, in a 3–1 succeed over FC Augsburg. A virus, however, would former kept him out of play for a number of games, and he would belated undergo operating room in an attack to correct a knee injury he suffered in a 3–1 loss away at Hamburger SV in November 2012. After a very unmanageable year for the defender marred by injury ( 383 days to be claim ), Papadopoulos returned to natural process in a home plate game against SC Freiburg in December 2013. [ 10 ] Just a few weeks after his return to military action, however, Papadopoulos suffered a new shoulder injury and could have been forced to undergo operation. [ 11 ] The news came as another shock, as his recurring knee problems restricted him to equitable four appearances in the 2013–14 temper. The injury besides forced him to miss the 2014 World Cup with Greece. [ 12 ] [ 13 ]

lend to Bayer Leverkusen [edit ]

On 3 August 2014, Bayer Leverkusen signed Papadopoulos on a season-long lend manage. He told Leverkusen ‘s official web site, “ I am identical felicitous that it worked out with the exchange. Bayer 04 is a clubhouse just like Schalke with major international ambitions. unfortunately I was injured more frequently in the past temper. But now I ‘m back fit and highly motivated to achieve with Leverkusen both my personal goals adenine well as the club ‘s. ” [ 14 ] [ 15 ] [ 16 ] On 3 November 2014, Leverkusen announced that Papadopoulos had been ruled out for the remainder of 2014 with a shoulder injury. The centre-back suffered the injury in the final train school term ahead of his slope ‘s UEFA Champions League away match with Zenit Saint Petersburg ; he underwent operating room. “ That ‘s barely acerb for Papa, ” Leverkusen coach Roger Schmidt told reporters ahead of Leverkusen ‘s trip to Russia. [ 17 ] Following his injury, the clubhouse announced that Papadopoulos undergo successful operating room on the following Monday in Herne. [ 18 ] On 8 March 2015, Papadopoulos scored his first Bundesliga goal for Bayer Leverkusen against SC Paderborn. [ 19 ] His wound misery continued after, on 25 April 2015, he dislocated his right shoulder in a league match away against 1. FC Köln. Leverkusen officials reported that Papadopoulos would return to the train after three months. [ 20 ] [ 21 ]

Bayer Leverkusen [edit ]

On 7 June 2015, Bayer Leverkusen opted to make Papadopoulos ‘ lend from Schalke 04 permanent on a €6.5 million transportation fee, with the player signing a five-year contract. [ 22 ] On 29 September 2015, Papadopoulos scored his first goal in the 2015–16 season in the first one-half of a Champions League meet against Barcelona : Hakan Çalhanoğlu, swing in a corner that hit right underneath Barça goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen ‘s crossbar ; Papadopoulos headed in the rebound from finale range. [ 23 ] Papadopoulos suffered a set of injuries during the season facing a rip in a joint capsule that kept him two weeks out of discipline, deoxyadenosine monophosphate well as a right calf tendon in the 0–0 Europa League draw with Villarreal that kept him out of the clubhouse till the end of the season. [ 24 ]

loanword to RB Leipzig [edit ]

On 31 August 2016, Papadopoulos joined RB Leipzig on a €1.5 million season-long loanword conduct, [ 25 ] linking up once again with Leipzig ‘s director of mutant Ralf Rangnick, who was his coach when they won the DFB Pokal together with Schalke in 2011. On 21 September 2016, he made his debut with the club as a substitute in a 1–1 Bundesliga match against Borussia Mönchengladbach. On 24 November 2016, Papadopoulos underwent a successful everyday surgery to overcome a chronic knee problem. and started a rehabilitation plan, with his return to action estimated at approximately three weeks. [ 26 ]

Hamburger SV [edit ]

On 13 January 2017, after a thwart first half of the campaign with RB Leipzig and due to their learning of defender Dayot Upamecano from Salzburg during the winter transfer windowpane, Papadopoulos moved to Hamburger SV. The HSV director Markus Gisdol knew the defender from their time together at Schalke 04. [ 27 ] On 21 January 2017, he made his debut with the club as a starter in a 1–0 aside loss to VfL Wolfsburg. On 3 February 2017 Papadopoulos scored a head goal from a set nibble against Bayer Leverkusen, giving Hamburg a 1–0 victory over his rear club. A workweek by and by, HSV celebrated back-to-back Bundesliga wins for only the second base prison term this season as Papadopoulos scored against his last club in a 3–0 away win at RB Leipzig. On 18 February 2017, in his fourth Bundesliga game with Hamburg, he was substituted in the first half due to a shoulder injury. [ 28 ] On 1 March 2017, Papadopoulos returned in the DFB Cup against Borussia Mönchengladbach. On 18 March 2017, in a 0–0 aside draw against Eintracht Frankfurt, he reached 100 appearances in the Bundesliga wearing the jersey of four clubs.

On 21 June 2017, having narrowly avoided relegation the previous season, Hamburger SV signed Papadopoulos on a permanent three-year deal from Bayer Leverkusen on a €6.5 million remove tip, with the Dinosaurs to offer another €3 million in the shape of a target bonus, for the adjacent three years. [ 29 ] [ 30 ] On 9 August 2017, despite having been with the club for entirely six months, he was named vice-captain for the 2017–18 season. [ 31 ] On 12 December 2017, he scored his beginning finish for the season in a 2–1 home passing against Eintracht Frankfurt. [ 32 ] On 23 July 2018, according to the Hamburger Morgenpost, Papadopoulos was suffering from a knee cartilage wound which required immediate surgical treatment. The reclamation period was estimated at six months, entail he would will be able to compete again around Christmas, missing at least the first half of the 2018–19 2. Bundesliga season. [ 33 ] [ 34 ] On 30 March 2019, he returned to the squad as a stand-in in the bench, in an away 0–0 game against VfL Bochum after a unmanageable convalescence action ( 154 days to be exact ) from his cartilage damage and three days late he made his debut with the first team as a starter in a 2–0 away gain DFB Pokal plot against Paderborn. [ 35 ]

Lokomotiva [edit ]

On 27 October 2020, the Croatian football club based in Zagreb NK Lokomotiva officially announced the sign of Greek external for an undisclosed fee. [ 36 ] [ 37 ]
On 18 July 2021, he moved to Saudi Professional League side Al-Fayha, on a exempt transfer from NK Lokomotiva, for a two-years ‘ compress for an undisclosed fee, increasing the parish of the Greeks in the golf club after the sign of Panagiotis Tachtsidis. [ 38 ] On 28 August 2021, Kyriakos Papadopoulos is looking for the next club of his career, as he is solved his narrow with Al-Fayha, after a calendar month of his presence in Saudi Arabia. The 29-year-old defender recorded equitable one engagement, and that was entirely for 16 minutes. [ 39 ]

Atromitos [edit ]

On 9 September 2021, Papadopoulos returned to Super League Greece, by signing a year compress with Atromitos F.C. for an undisclosed fee. [ 40 ]

International career [edit ]

Papadopoulos was called for the under-19 Greek national team to participate in the Elite orotund of the 2007 UEFA european Under-19 Football Championship. He participated in all three group games against Moldova, Netherlands and Russia, helping Greece finish acme and qualify for the finals. Papadopoulos late featured at the heart of the greek defense in the finals tournament and was partners with teammate Konstantinos Lambropoulos. He was instrumental in keeping a clean sheet against the Czech Republic, ampere well as solid performances against England and Italy. His performances attracted care from scouts of elite teams such as Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea. [ 41 ] The teams were print with the defender ‘s maturity in a competition in which he was the youngest player by 13 months. Despite being the youngest musician in the tournament, he was besides one of the ten-spot most talented players in Europe as considered by UEFA in their UEFA Under-19 Team of the Tournament. [ 42 ] Having finished an excellent year with Schalke, on 4 June 2011, then- Greece head coach Fernando Santos called Papadopoulos up for the first prison term to the senior police squad for a match against Malta. Due to an Avraam Papadopoulos injury and Sokratis Papastathopoulos ‘ inability to play, he took their place in the police squad in the center of defense adjacent to Vangelis Moras. not only did he have an excellent bet on, but he besides scored the second goal of his team. On 6 September 2011, he scored his second international finish against Latvia in UEFA Euro 2012 reservation. Papadopoulos was a penis of Greece ‘s 23-man squad for the finals of UEFA Euro 2012, starting in the team ‘s second and third group games, a well as the quarter-final loss to Germany. On 17 April 2015, Papadopoulos was recalled by modern Greece director Sergio Markarian, as part of a survival overhaul, to participate in the state ‘s european Championship qualifier away at Hungary. [ 43 ] At the beginning of World Cup 2018 qualifying crusade, Kyriakos Papadopoulos was selected by german bus Michael Skibbe. Against Cyprus, he came on as substitute of Kostas Stafylidis after 71 min. He played the stallion third gear game against Estonia, but was sent off after 79 minutes during the clash against Bosnia-Herzegovina. Papadopoulos was then required to miss the crucial one-fifth game against the belgian Red Devils .

career statistics [edit ]

club [edit ]

As of match played on 4 December 2021.[44][45][46]

International [edit ]

National team Year Apps Goals
Greece 2011 6 2
2012 10 2
2013 0 0
2014 0 0
2015 4 0
2016 4 0
2017 3 0
2018 1 0
2019 0 0
2020 0 0
2021 6 0
Total 35 4

International goals [edit ]

Records [edit ]

  • Youngest ever player to play in the Greek League at 15 years and 283 days.
  • UEFA U19 Team of the Tournament

Honours [edit ]

Olympiacos
Schalke 04

References [edit ]