Kyriakos Papadopoulos

Kyriakos Papadopoulos (Greek: Κυριάκος Παπαδόπουλος; born 23 February 1992) is a Greek professional footballer who plays as a centre back for Romanian Superliga club FCU 1948.

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 senior debut for Greece the following year, aged 19. However, his career progress in the Bundesliga was hampered by a succession of injuries over several seasons.

Club Career

Olympiacos

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

Olympiacos scouts were also aware of the prodigy's talents, however, and the former manager of Olympiacos, George Louvaris, was quick to secure a deal with Papadopoulos' father Nikos, thus 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 debut for Olympiacos in the Greek Superleague as a substitute during a 3–1 win over Atromitos on 2 December 2007, thus becoming the youngest player to ever play in the Greek league at the age of 15 years and 283 days. He also made the substitutes bench 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 player to ever compete in the competition by nearly two years.

This page also has a version in other languages :  Кириакос Пападопулос (russian)