Kostas Manolas

Konstantinos "Kostas" Manolas (Greek: Κωνσταντίνος "Κώστας" Μανωλάς, pronounced [konsta(n)ˈdinos ˈkostaz manoˈlas]; born 14 June 1991) is a Greek professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for FC Napoli.

Club Career

AEK Athens

2009–10 season

Manolas began his youth career at Thrasyvoulos in 2007. In 2009, his uncle Stelios Manolas, who was the AEK Athens' technical director at the time, was scouting his nephew at a youth match with AEK manager Dusan Bajevic and was impressed with his performance.

On 16 June 2009, Manolas signed a three-year deal with AEK. After signing, Manolas said, "I am very happy signing for the team I support, hopefully I can be a legend at the club like my uncle and end my career at AEK." He made his debut against AO Kavala and was named man of the match. After the game, he stated, "It's a dream to play for the club I love." Manolas was also rewarded with man of the match honours the following week against PAOK. In his first seven matches, Manolas was named man of the match in five of them.

Manolas scored his first professional goal against archrivals Olympiacos on 19 May 2010. Although he was playing with a broken jugal bone since the first minute of the match after a dangerous nudge by Kostas Mitroglou, he scored in the sixth minute, though he later left the match in the 15th minute. He refused to be taken to the hospital before the match was over, despite being urged by his uncle Stelios Manolas. The next day, he underwent a successful three-hour surgery, recovered and quickly returned to training sessions.

2010–11 season

Manolas was a key figure for AEK Athens in the 2010–11 season, playing impressive performances in the Superleague Greece but also in the 2010–11 UEFA Europa League, which drew interest from many European teams such as Genoa, Udinese, Getafe and Schalke 04. Manolas scored a very important goal for AEK against Hajduk Split, securing

This page also has a version in other languages :  Костас Манолас (russian)