[Albion] Charalampos Kostoulas

[abc]

I do not feel easy with this. It’s an insane amount of money to spend on a teenager and puts a ridiculous amount of pressure on someone who is still a child. That being said, I’ve come to the point with recruitment that I trust the club so much, and know that if they are spending this much money on someone, they must be absolutely convinced they are are a world class talent. Like, this must be THE most convinced Tony has ever been about a player. There’s no other reason he’d spend so much on a teenager. So I trust him

That's very good of you to give your approval, everyone at the club will be relieved and grateful!

Seriously though, it is weird how fans (of all clubs) have such firm opinions on whether a player is worth it or not and how the owner should be spending his money. We all do it but its never our money and we only have a tiny fraction of the knowledge the club will have about the player or the actual deal that is agreed.

Having said that, if only TB had listened to me about Locadia...........

 

[chaileyjem]

Yep on the whole tony usually gets it right. Crazy crazy start to the window if this kid does sign though.

Tzimas (although that was technically Jan/Feb window) and Kostoulas for a combined £50m . Two 18/19 year old Greek strikers/forwards. Agreed - its quite the statement.
Mind you Palace spent £25m with add ons on tried / tested PL striker last summer. Scored 3 goals. And ask United about Hojlund - 4 goals last season for their £65m. What value do either of them have now ?

 

[Gabbiano]

Signing as an 18 year old means he will also count as a home grown player after 21.

If he develops as the club hope, he could be worth a LOT of money.

Big if.

 

[Hugo Rune]

Signing as an 18 year old means he will also count as a home grown player after 21.

If he develops as the club hope, he could be worth a LOT of money.

Big if.

His showreel indicates to me that he has a very similar skill and attitude set to Joao Pedro.

So the big IFs for me are:

1. Can he avoid constant or serious injuries.
2. Can he up his game to perform at Premier League level.
3. Can he develop consistency of performance.

Big IFs for €40m.

What's clear is that our strike force for next season may not include him if we sign him as he may go out on loan. USG in the Champions League might be a good option. We'll surely have Welbz and Georginio but I suspect that there is at least one other place up for grabs if Pedro leaves. Ferguson, Tzimas or O'Mahony need to have a brilliant pre-season to grab that place.

 

[Hotchilidog]

His showreel indicates to me that he has a very similar skill and attitude set to Joao Pedro.

So the big IFs for me are:

1. Can he avoid constant or serious injuries.
2. Can he up his game to perform at Premier League level.
3. Can he develop consistency of performance.

Big IFs for €40m.

What's clear is that our strike force for next season may not include him if we sign him as he may go out on loan. USG in the Champions League might be a good option. We'll surely have Welbz and Georginio but I suspect that there is at least one other place up for grabs if Pedro leaves. Ferguson, Tzimas or O'Mahony need to have a brilliant pre-season to grab that place.

You don’t spend that money to loan him out. Given Fab‘s use of substitutes I think there will be plenty of gametime for all the forwards rather than having to over rely on Welbeck.

 

[Flounce]

Imagine if we buy this guy, and he’s as good as touted and Evan hits the ground running next season!

7th heaven up front but keeping all our forwards happy could be a challenge for FH!

 

[Ozymandias86]

In the history of football there's barely been one world class greek striker. And we are buying 2 incredibly expensive ones in the space of one summer lol.

Why is Greece suddenly a decent market ?!?

Greek talent is so few and far between that the best player of ALL time was a Leicester regular when they were crap, the 4rh best player of all time was a Sheffield utd regular! ...history is not on our side with these transfers.

Top 10 Greek footballers of all time

As part of the countdown to the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil

www.sportsmole.co.uk

New golden generation, init? The crop of Kostoulas, Tzimas et al all came out of the Euro 2004 legacy and have been making fairly significant noise in B-leagues and European competitions (and, specifically with Kostoulas and others, with Olympiacos having won the Youth Champions League) at young ages (and with glimpses on the international stage - see the hype around Karetsas after the games v Scotland etc). Mad Old Marinakis kinda did a Bloom and heavily invested in the club and its facilities, which is reaping rewards with their recent successes and the new gen. Greek league is also improving - previously ranked in the 15-20 range in European leagues by UEFA but ranked in the top 10 best leagues in Europe for both 23/24 and 24/25 seasons - so the level isn’t actually that bad.

Clearly there’s a lot of upward trajectory that the algorithm likes (and other clubs’ algorithms like). Always a risk involved (and £40m is big cajones risk) but a calculated one - and The Lizard seems pretty good at coming out on the right side of those calculations

 

[singing4seagulls]

I'm genuinely so excited and slightly baffled by this one.

As you all have said, the sums involved for such a young unproven player is slightly mind boggling.

But, that means the people who actually know about this stuff, algorithms, scouts etc. all can see something special. Feels like a big risk, but Tony is a professional gambler and it's a gamble Tony seems to rate.

We do all need to be comfortable however that sometimes gambles don't pay off. That's ok and part of it. We just need to get it right more often than not.

The last time I felt this way was for Baleba. All this talk about how good he could be, but the money involved for a child just scratching the first team in France felt a bit mad, especially when we were asked to believe he could be the next Caisado. Now look where we are...

Only caution to people on this forum is that Baleba took time to get good. We need to get behind these youngsters and give them a chance to adapt and evolve.

God this is exciting! This guy, Tzimas etc. I'm already so ready for next season!

 

[Lady Whistledown]

Yep on the whole tony usually gets it right. Crazy crazy start to the window if this kid does sign though.

In answer to your previous question, the Greek national team now is a world apart from the effective-but-brain-numbingly dull side which won the Euros a few years ago.

I watched them play Scotland in the Nations League a couple of months ago and they looked like a really good side, with some technically brilliant young players. They tore Scotland to bits. And yes, there is the obvious qualifier to that statement which is that it was only Scotland, but I was impressed anyway. There is a school of thought that they have a bit of a golden generation of talented youngsters coming through, some of whom have roots across Europe but have opted to play for Greece, in particular the 17yr old who plays in Belgium and who has Chelsea (of course) and many other top clubs salivating over him. Obviously I can't remember his name right now

Maybe it's down to investment in their infrastructure or something? Marinakis's entirely legitimate money helping improve the set up at Olympiakos, that sort of thing?


Edit: I typed all that before I read Ozymandias86's post above, and he's put it far better than I have. Karetsas, that's the name of the kid who danced around Scotland's defence at will all night!

 

[jackalbion]

In answer to your previous question, the Greek national team now is a world apart from the effective-but-brain-numbingly dull side which won the Euros a few years ago.

I watched them play Scotland in the Nations League a couple of months ago and they looked like a really good side, with some technically brilliant young players. They tore Scotland to bits. And yes, there is the obvious qualifier to that statement which is that it was only Scotland, but I was impressed anyway. There is a school of thought that they have a bit of a golden generation of talented youngsters coming through, some of whom have roots across Europe but have opted to play for Greece, in particular the 17yr old who plays in Belgium and who has Chelsea (of course) and many other top clubs salivating over him. Obviously I can't remember his name right now

Maybe it's down to investment in their infrastructure or something? Marinakis's entirely legitimate money helping improve the set up at Olympiakos, that sort of thing?


Edit: I typed all that before I read Ozymandias86's post above, and he's put it far better than I have. Karetsas, that's the name of the kid who danced around Scotland's defence at will all night!

2 years ago this Olympiakos youth team won the UEFA Youth League as well, quite impressive.

 

[Lady Whistledown]

2 years ago this Olympiakos youth team won the UEFA Youth League as well, quite impressive.

Even better.

I do think there is a lot of science behind all the bids for very young players these days, certainly as far as the Albion are concerned. Gone are the days when a kid would do a load of kick ups and fancy flicks on a video aged 15 and every big club in the world would be trying to sign him. Think Freddy Adu, John Bostock, and Sonny Pike, for those of us old enough to remember his name.

Whereas now, clubs (certainly the switched on ones) look at underlying data, not just their ability to run effortlessly with the ball past a bunch of other 15 year olds, which is a notoriously poor predictor of ultimate ability. The numbers may actually be able to suggest that a player who doesn't tear it up at 15 when he's perhaps a bit smaller and less developed than his peers nonetheless has the football brain and technical ability to flourish once the physical side of things evens out in adulthood. The same science must also apply in a different way when you think about players in much lower rated leagues, for example Mitoma in the J-League or Caicedo in Ecuador.

Ergo, I like to think the Albion would have done a considerable amount of research into Kostoulas and every other big money signing, and be as confident as they can be that he has the tools to succeed.

 

[Albumen]

Greece have a golden generation of kids coming through and we're tapping into it. Imagine if they start being successful with our two upfront, we'll be smothering ourselves in hummus every international break.

 

[pigmanovich]

Greece have a golden generation of kids coming through and we're tapping into it. Imagine if they start being successful with our two upfront, we'll be smothering ourselves in hummus every international break.

More like grimacing as they get CROCKED before a crucial cup tie

 

[pigmanovich]

In answer to your previous question, the Greek national team now is a world apart from the effective-but-brain-numbingly dull side which won the Euros a few years ago.

A few years ago

 

[Cowfold Seagull]

Greece have a golden generation of kids coming through and we're tapping into it. Imagine if they start being successful with our two upfront, we'll be smothering ourselves in hummus every international break.

More of a taramasalata man myself.

 

[jackalbion]

Greece have a golden generation of kids coming through and we're tapping into it. Imagine if they start being successful with our two upfront, we'll be smothering ourselves in hummus every international break.

I liked the other kid more I have to say, Mouzakitis.

 

[Lady Whistledown]

Last season was decent, folks, but feta times are ahead.

 

[Taybha]

If he signs I've no problem with what it costs, he's obviously been identified as a top prospect and TB always does his homework,what would be interesting is would he go out on loan? Surely not,so he must be EPL ready for the club to entertain that sort of price tag for the lad.
We're not a small club anymore and TB obviously wants to push for top 4 so I suppose a punt like this is risky but TB is quite a clever punter apparently..

 

[SeagullinExile]

Any excuse for this gem!

 

[Albumen]

Last season was decent, folks, but feta times are ahead.

It'll be a pitta if we don't close the deal.