 Christodoulopoulos with Greece in 2013 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Lazaros Christodoulopoulos | ||
| Date of birth | 19 December 1986 | ||
| Place of birth | Thessaloniki, Greece | ||
| Height | 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) | ||
| Playing position | Winger / Attacking midfielder / Striker | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Bologna | ||
| Number | 10 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| PAOK | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 2005–2008 | PAOK | 56 | (8) |
| 2008–2013 | Panathinaikos | 89 | (15) |
| 2013– | Bologna | 20 | (1) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 2005–2006 | Greece U-19 | 7 | (2) |
| 2006–2008 | Greece U-21 | 13 | (7) |
| 2008– | Greece | 13 | (1) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of November 30, 2013.
† Appearances (Goals).
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of September 10, 2013 | |||
Lazaros Christodoulopoulos (Greek: Λάζαρος Χριστοδουλόπουλος; born 19 December 1986) is a Greek footballer who plays for Bologna and the Greek national team. His main strengths are his technique, pace and acceleration with the ball. He was nicknamed the "The Builder" by the local media, because during his fall-out in relations with PAOK, he stated that he would be better off being a construction worker than playing for PAOK again.
Club career
PAOK
Christodoulopoulos started his career when he was picked up by Omonoia Sindos (in Thessaloniki) at a young age, and then Neapoli. His impressive performances caught the eye of a PAOK scout, and joined PAOK in the summer of 2004. He has been a mainstay in the PAOK first team proving to be a vital team player.
As of 2008 many European clubs were interested in signing him. He was contracted to P.A.O.K. until 2008 with minimum fee release clause of €6 million.
In the summer of 2006 he was given a trial by English giants Liverpool but PAOK was reluctant to sell him at the point. This started a dispute that prevented him from playing for more than half of the 2006–07 season.
Panathinaikos
On June 20, 2008, Christodoulopoulos agreed a deal in principle to join Panathinaikos FC for €3.8 million.[1] Christodoulopoulos signed a four-year contract with the club.[2] On February 18, 2010, Christodoulopoulos scored against A.S. Roma after coming on, for the UEFA Europa League round of 32.
The 2011–12 season didn't start well for him, as he faced a serious knee injury during pre-season which led him to surgery. The club doctors said that he would be expected to return after five months. After months of therapy and special treatment, he joined the rest of the team at training in December. On December 29, 2011, the club president announced that Christodoulopoulos had agreed to sign a new three-year contract until 2015 since his contract was going to expire during the end of the 2011–12 season. On January 7, Liverpool were apparently interested in signing Christodoulopoulos, the former trialist at the club, for £2,000,000 (€4,500,000).
Christodoulopoulos began 2012–13 by scoring in European and championship matches. He was given the number "10". He and Ibrahim Sissoko were the most important players for the season. In December, in order for Panathinaikos' president, Giannis Alafouzos, to save money for the team, he released players with high-paying contacts; as a result Christodoulopoulos was released alongside Nikos Spyropoulos, Loukas Vyntra, Antonis Petropoulos and Sebastian Leto.
Bologna 1909
On 31/1/2013 Lazaros was transferred to Bologna F.C. on a free transfer. On 26/2/2013 Lazaros made his debut against Fiorentina coming as a substitute and scoring a goal in a 2-1 win.
International career
After impressing Greece coach Otto Rehhagel, he was called to the Greek national football team for the first time on February 1, 2008[3] and made his debut in the win over the Czech Republic on February 5.
