 Kone with Greece in 2013 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Panagiotis Giorgios Kone | ||
| Date of birth | 26 July 1987 | ||
| Place of birth | Tirana, Albania | ||
| Height | 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in) | ||
| Playing position | Attacking midfielder / Right winger | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Bologna | ||
| Number | 8 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1999–2004 | Olympiacos | ||
| 2004–2005 | Lens | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 2005–2008 | AEK Athens | 23 | (2) |
| 2008–2010 | Iraklis | 49 | (8) |
| 2010–2012 | Brescia | 31 | (1) |
| 2011–2012 | → Bologna (loan) | 31 | (1) |
| 2012– | Bologna | 46 | (10) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 2006 | Greece U19 | 4 | (1) |
| 2006–2008 | Greece U21 | 8 | (0) |
| 2010– | Greece | 14 | (0) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 15 December 2013.
† Appearances (Goals).
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 14 September 2012 | |||
Panagiotis Giorgios Kone (Greek: Παναγιώτης Γεώργιος Κονέ, born 26 July 1987) is a Greek[1] footballer playing as an attacking midfielder for Bologna in the Italian Serie A. He was born in Tirana, Albania and moved to Greece at the age of two.
Club career
Kone started at the Olympiacos youth academy as a young teenager but moved to France just before his 17th birthday when Lens showed interest in him. He was sold to Lens for€400,000.[2] After one year with Lens he came back to Greece, this time with AEK Athens signing his first professional contract. Kone was a hot prospect as a youngster and was tipped to have a big career but never fully blossomed. Surprisingly he wore the number 10 shirt for the 2005/06 season as an 18 year old but with the arrival of Rivaldo he changed it to 22.
Iraklis FC
Kone moved to Iraklis in 2008 after he was surplus to requirements in AEK Athens. In the two seasons he has played since with the club from Thessaloniki he made 49 league appearances and scored 8 goals. In 37 of these matches he either played as a substitute or he was substituted. Although in times he showed football brilliance, the facts that he was rather unstable and the lack of teamwork couldn't secure him a firm place in Iraklis' starting eleven.
Contract dispute with Iraklis
In July 2010 he trained with Brescia[3] although he was still under contract with Iraklis. He stopped training with Brescia after the Italian club was informed that the player was still under contract with Iraklis. Kone expected to have his contract with Iraklis terminated due to supposed debt by the club to him. On 22 July 2010, the Hellenic Football Federation decided against the request of Kone to terminate his contract with the club.[4] Nevertheless Iraklis sold him to Brescia for a considerable amount of €800.000.[2]
International career
Kone has represented Greece at youth level. Shortly after signing for Brescia the new Greece coach Fernando Santos called him up for Euro 2012 qualifying matches against Georgia and Croatia. On 17 November 2010, Kone debuted for the Greece National team in 1–2 friendly international away win against Austria. He played the entire first half before being replaced.[5] He was named in the provisional squad for Euro 2012. On 26 May 2012, Kone was sent off in the 1:1 draw with Slovenia in a friendly match.
