Kostas Tsimikas

Konstantinos "Kostas" Tsimikas (Greek: Κωνσταντίνος "Κώστας" Τσιμίκας, born 12 May 1996) is a Greek professional footballer who plays as a left-back for Premier League club Liverpool and the Greece national team.[2][3]

Kostas Tsimikas
Personal information
Full name Konstantinos Tsimikas[1]
Date of birth (1996-05-12) 12 May 1996
Place of birth Thessaloniki, Greece
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s) Left-back
Club information
Current team
 Liverpool
Number 21
Youth career
2010–2013 Neapoli Thessaloniki
2013–2014 Panserraikos
2014–2015 Olympiacos
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2015–2020 Olympiacos 46 (0)
2017 → Esbjerg (loan) 9 (2)
2017–2018 → Willem II (loan) 33 (3)
2020– Liverpool 1 (0)
National team‡
2014–2015 Greece U19 13 (0)
2016–2018 Greece U21 16 (2)
2018– Greece 6 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 07:07 10 August 2020 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 21:57, 20 November 2020 (UTC).

Club career

Early years

Tsimikas was born in Thessaloniki, and hails from the village of Lefkonas, Serres.[4] He started his career from his village's local team and he transferred to AS Neapoli Thessaloniki when he was 14 years old. In 2013, he moved to Panserraikos and he scored 5 goals during 2013–14 season in Gamma Ethniki.[5]

Olympiacos

Tsimikas made his Olympiacos debut in the Super League in a match against AEL Kalloni on 19 December 2015.[6]

Loan to Esbjerg

On 28 December 2016, Tsimikas signed for Danish club Esbjerg on a loan until the end of the 2016–17 season.[7] On 17 February 2017, in his debut with the club, he scored a goal in a 3–0 home win game against SønderjyskE Fodbold. He left the club after 13 games, and returned to Olympiacos.

Loan to Willem II

On 30 June 2017, Tsimikas made another loan move, this time to Dutch club Willem II on a season-long contract.[8] He was a regular in the 2017–18 Eredivisie, starting 32 of the 34 matches,[9] and also scored goals. In the quarter-finals of the KNVB Cup, his deflected free kick took the tie into extra time, and Willem II went on to beat Roda on penalties.[10] Tsimikas' spectacular bicycle kick in a 3–2 win against FC Utrecht was voted Voetbal International Goal of the Month and contributed to his being named Eredivisie Rookie of the Month for March 2018.[11]

Return to Olympiacos

Coach Pedro Martins kept Tsimikas at Olympiacos for the 2018–19 season. In November 2018, he crossed for Kostas Fortounis' first goal in a 5–1 defeat of F91 Dudelange in the Europa League group stage; both players were named in the UEFA Europa League Team of the Week.[12] In late 2018, he was mainly left on the bench with Leonardo Koutris given the nod in his position, but the Olympiacos management is known to have huge faith in Tsimikas. As a result, the 22-year old was offered a new deal, with Tsimikas agreeing to sign the contract which would have kept him at the club until the summer of 2023.[13]

Liverpool

On 11 August 2020, Tsimikas signed for Liverpool on a deal for reported fee of £11.75m. He became just the second Greek footballer to become a Liverpool player after Sotiris Kyrgiakos who joined the club from AEK Athens in 2009.[14][15][16] He made his debut for Liverpool in the EFL Cup on 24 September 2020, against Lincoln City in a 7–2 win.[17]

International career

Tsimikas received his first call-up to the Greek senior team for 2018–19 UEFA Nations League matches against Hungary and Finland in October.[18] He made his international debut in the starting eleven for the match at home to Hungary on 12 October, and crossed for Kostas Mitroglou to score the only goal of the game.[19]

Career statistics

Club
As of match played 7 February 2021
Club Season League Cup League Cup Continental Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Olympiacos 2015–16 Superleague Greece 3060—00—90
2016–17 1020—00—30
2018–19 15040—9[lower-alpha 1]0—280
2019–20 27030—16[lower-alpha 2]0—460
Total 460150—250—860
Esbjerg (loan) 2016–17 Danish Superliga 9240———132
Willem II (loan) 2017–18 Eredivisie 33343———376
Liverpool 2020–21 Premier League 1000103[lower-alpha 3]00050
Career total 89523310280001418
  1. Appearance(s) in UEFA Europa League
  2. Twelve appearances in UEFA Champions League, four appearances in UEFA Europa League
  3. Appearance(s) in UEFA Champions League

Honours
Olympiacos

References
  1. "2020/21 Premier League squads confirmed". Premier League. 20 October 2020. Retrieved 25 October 2020.
  2. "Konstantinos Tsimikas". Retrieved 11 September 2017.
  3. "Konstantinos Tsimikas - UEFA". Retrieved 11 September 2017.
  4. "Ο Σάκης Αναστασιάδης μιλά για τον «Σερραίο» Τσιμίκα: «Στην πρώτη προπόνηση δεν ακούμπησε μπάλα!»". LiverpoolFans.gr (in Greek). 2020-08-12. Retrieved 2021-02-04.
  5. talentabout.gr Ο ταλαντούχος Κώστας Τσιμικας
  6. Τσιμίκας: «Οι κόποι μου ανταμείβονται» [Tsimikas: "My troubles are rewarded"] (in Greek). 19 December 2015. Retrieved 11 September 2017.
  7. Επίσημο: στην Έσμπιεργκ δανεικός ο Τσιμίκας [Official: Tsimikas is on a loan with Esbjerg] (in Greek). 28 December 2016. Retrieved 11 September 2017.
  8. "Willem II haalt linksback Konstantinos Tsimikas uit Griekenland" [Willem II get left-back Konstantinos Tsimikas from Greece] (in Dutch). 30 June 2017. Retrieved 11 September 2017.
  9. "K. Tsimikas". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 5 December 2019.
  10. Burns, Will (2 February 2018). "KNVB Beker report: Quarter-finals". Total Dutch Football. Retrieved 5 December 2019.
  11. "Slip in Tilburg". FC Utrecht. 31 March 2018. Retrieved 5 December 2019.
    "Fenomenale goal Tsimikas verkozen tot Doelpunt van de Maand maart" [Tsimikas' phenomenal goal chosen as Goal of the Month for March]. VI.nl (in Dutch). 13 April 2018. Retrieved 5 December 2019.
    "Santiago Arias named Player of the Month". Eredivisie. 4 April 2018. Retrieved 5 December 2019.
  12. "Olympiakos 5–1 F91 Dudelange". Sky Sports. 9 November 2018. Retrieved 5 December 2019.
    "Who makes our Europa League Team of the Week?". UEFA. 9 November 2018. Retrieved 5 December 2019.
  13. "Ολυμπιακός: Ανανέωσε για 4 χρόνια ο Τσιμίκας". www.sport24.gr. 10 January 2019. Retrieved 10 January 2019.
  14. Shaw, Chris (10 August 2020). "Liverpool complete signing of Kostas Tsimikas". Liverpool FC. Retrieved 10 August 2020.
  15. Williams, Sam (11 August 2020). "Kostas Tsimikas: 'I was a Liverpool fan - my family are very happy'". Liverpool F.C. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
  16. Dobson, Mark; Unwin, Will (9 August 2020). "Liverpool set to sign Olympiakos left-back Kostas Tsimikas for £11.75m". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 August 2020.
  17. Unwin, Will (24 September 2020). "Lincoln City v Liverpool and more: Carabao Cup third round – live!". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 September 2020.
  18. Nicolaides, Shaun (4 October 2018). "Paschalakis and Tsimikas receive maiden national team call-ups". AgonaSport. Retrieved 5 December 2019.
  19. Georgakopoulos, George (12 October 2018). "Mitroglou settles Greece's scores against Hungary". Ekathimerini. Retrieved 5 December 2019.

Kostas is Greek

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