BREAKOUT STARS
Kostas
Tsimikas
(Liverpool)H
e’s completed the hard yards,
refining and honing his craft at
mother club Olympiakos, and
spending time on loan at Esbjerg
in Denmark and Dutch side Willem II. Now for
his well-deserved entrance onto the main stage
on Merseyside, a chance for the impressive
young Greek left-back to really make a name
for himself, and gain global exposure and
recognition.
The Thessaloniki-born international, an
£11.7 million purchase from Olympiakos,
ostensibly will be the understudy to the
inimitable Andy Robertson. But that does
not mean that the Anfield new boy will
be twiddling his thumbs most matchdays.
Even a player of Robertson’s rare stamina
has to have a breather every so often, and the
24-year-old will be on hand to take the baton.
Tsimikas has the
physical capacity to
bomb forward all day,
the mentality and skills
of a winger, plus the
ability to whip in a
great cross. Irreverent,
adventurous as well as defensively resilient.
The move to Liverpool is not Tsimikas’ first
spell away from Greece. In 2016-17 he joined
Danish side Esbjerg on loan, then spent a season
in the Netherlands with Willem II, where he
showed off his attacking credentials in the
Eredivisie by scoring six goals.
In his native land, he is often compared to
the former Olympiakos, Internazionale and
Greece left-back Grigoris Georgatos, who a
couple of decades ago was one of the most
accomplished attacking full-backs in Europe.
It’s no coincidence that Georgatos used to be
Tsimikas’ coach for the Olympiakos youth team.Tsimikas has the physical
capacity to bomb forward
all day...plus the ability
to whip in a great crossVitolo
(Atletico Madrid)A three-time Europa League winner with
Sevilla, the Spanish international wide-man
could prove a more than useful joker in the
top continental competition. Atletico coach
Diego Simeone has a lot of respect for his
elusiveness and strong hold-up play.Brandon Williams
(Manchester United)The left-back put in 36 solid displays for the
Red Devils last term, proof that the homegrown
19-year-old is on the right path. So mature,
so driven that he effectively by-passed reserve
team football, and recently penned a new deal,
keeping him at the Old Trafford club until 2024.Edin Visca
(Istanbul Basaksehir)
The Bosnia winger, a regular at newly-crowned
Turkish champions for almost a decade, didn’t
put a foot wrong in 2019-20, supplying13
goals and as many assists. When he is on his
game, so are Basaksehir. Has flown under the
radar so far, but that could change this season.