Borussia Dortmund unleashed their newest attacking talisman Giannis Konstantelias on Saturday in the Franz Beckenbauer Supercup defeat to Bayern Munich and the 23-year-old has got the fans excited with a promising display.
He created the goal for Fabio Silva in the second half after a domineering run in the half-space on the left and then cutting inside on the right to draw Bayern players towards him before laying it off for Daniel Svensson, who barged into the box and sent in a looping cross for Silva to slam home from close-range.
Minutes earlier, the Greek gun had also tried to set up Serhou Guirassy, but his pass didn't quite come off, with the striker having to stretch himself out before it was cleared out of danger.
In the 45-minute second-half cameo, Konstantelias mustered one shot (though it was blocked), laid two key passes, completed 14 of his 15 passes (almost all of which were in Bayern's half too) and won three of his four ground duels.
With such a fabulous start to life at Dortmund, fans are excited to see what's to come from him over the season ahead.
Rising star at PAOK
Born in Volos, Greece, Konstantelias joined Agia Paraskevi's academy at nine before moving to PAOK Thessaloniki, where he continued his development into a promising young attacking prospect.
In 2021, he finally broke into their senior team and kept biding his time before finally having a breakout season in 2022-23 campaign, following which he became one of the first names on their team-sheet.
Until his transfer to Dortmund, Konstantelias garnered 188 appearances for PAOK, scoring 44 goals and registering 26 assists.
Greece's next big thing
His meteoric rise on the club front culminated with Konstantelias breaking into Greece's national team too, debuting in March 2023 against Gibraltar in a UEFA Nations League match. Since then, he's accrued 16 more caps and netted four goals while assisting twice as the player's influence on the side has steadily grown.
Following a talismanic display against Scotland last year, wherein he scored once and assisted twice in a 3-0 victory at Hampden Park, legendary manager Sir Alex Ferguson said watching him and Karetsas play was like watching David Beckham and Paul Scholes, two players he coached at Manchester United.
A fresh chapter at BVB
Borussia Dortmund spent €26 million for his services this summer, a figure that could go up to €32 million with add-ons. If reached, he'd usurp his compatriot Konstantinos Karetsas, also signed in this window, as the club's second-most expensive purchase in history.
He's already shown signs of settling in with Black and Yellow, but must be producing these performances on a consistent basis to seem like he's worth the outlay.
Konstantelias is set for his Bundesliga debut on Saturday, 29 August against Hamburg.
Add us as a preferred source on Google