Panagiotis Retsos (, born 9 August 1998) is a Greek professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

for

Super League Super League (also known as the Betfred Super League for sponsorship reasons, and legally Super League Europe Ltd.) is a professional rugby league competition, and the highest level of the British rugby league system, which consists of twelve t ...

club

Olympiacos Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós (, Olympic Association of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a number of different competitive departments which participate in football, ...

and the Greece national team.

Club career

Olympiacos

In the summer of 2016, at age 18, he was promoted from Olympiacos' youth team by first manager Víctor Sánchez, who was impressed by his stamina. On 25 August 2016, he made his debut with the club in a

Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

playoffs home match against Arouca. On 8 February 2017, Retsos was appointed captain of the club in a

Greek Cup The Greek Football Cup (), commonly known as the Greek Cup or Betsson Greek Cup for sponsorship reasons is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation. The Greek Cup is the second-most important domestic men's footba ...

goalless home draw against

Atromitos Atromitos (Greek: Ατρόμητος, "fearless") may refer to: * Atromitos F.C., a football team based in Peristeri, Greece * Atromitos Piraeus, a football team based in Piraeus, Greece * Atromitos Yeroskipou Atromitos Yeroskipou () was a Cy ...

. Retsos became the youngest captain of Olympiacos aged only 18, five months and 30 days.

Bayer Leverkusen

On 30 August 2017, Retsos was sold to

Bayer Leverkusen Bayer 04 Leverkusen, officially known as Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH () and commonly known as Bayer Leverkusen or simply Leverkusen, is a German professional football club based in Leverkusen, North Rhine-Westphalia. It competes in the B ...

for a fee of £15.75 million. The 19-year-old centre-back signed a five-year deal with Leverkusen. On 17 September 2017, he made his

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

debut in a 4–0 home win against

SC Freiburg Sport-Club Freiburg e.V., commonly known as SC Freiburg (), is a Football in Germany, German professional football club, based in the city of Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemberg. It plays in the Bundesliga, having been promoted as champions ...

as a starter. On the club's Twitter account, Retsos was voted the Man of the Match. On 9 April 2018, Retsos scored his first goal in

in a 4–1 away win against

RB Leipzig RasenBallsport Leipzig e.V. (), commonly known as RB Leipzig or informally as Red Bull Leipzig, is a German professional association football, football club based in Leipzig, Saxony. The club was founded in 2009 by the initiative of the company ...

. Retsos made a total of 20 appearances in his debut Bundesliga campaign. On 2 August 2018, Retsos suffered a heavy blow to the quadriceps during pre-season training with Bayer Leverkusen and was diagnosed with tendonitis in the right thigh. The injury is expected to sideline the defender for at least six weeks. On 29 November 2018, Retsos returned to action in a

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

home game against

Ludogorets Professional Football Club Ludogorets 1945 (), commonly known as Ludogorets Razgrad or simply Ludogorets, is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Razgrad, which currently competes in the First Professional Football League, ...

, but suffered a new injury in his left thigh. On 29 October 2019, after almost a year out with injury, Retsos played in a

DFB-Pokal The DFB-Pokal (), also known as the German Cup in English language, English, is a German knockout Association football, football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competiti ...

game as a substitute in a 1–0 home win against Paderborn SC.

Loan to Sheffield United

On 1 February 2020, Retsos signed for

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

club

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history ...

loan In finance, a loan is the tender of money by one party to another with an agreement to pay it back. The recipient, or borrower, incurs a debt and is usually required to pay interest for the use of the money. The document evidencing the deb ...

from Bayer Leverkusen until the end of the 2019–20 season with an option to buy. The breakout of

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

across the UK, however, which lead to the temporary suspension of football in England meant Retsos failed to make an appearance. Retsos declined an offer to extend his loan to comply with the extended Premier League season, returning to his parent club.

Loan to Saint-Étienne

On 4 October 2020, Retsos joined

Saint-Étienne Saint-Étienne (; Franco-Provençal: ''Sant-Etiève''), also written St. Etienne, is a city and the prefecture of the Loire département, in eastern-central France, in the Massif Central, southwest of Lyon, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes regi ...

on loan with a purchase option of €6.5 million in the summer of 2021, becoming an obligation if he makes 20 appearances. On 25 October 2020, Retsos suffered a muscular injury at the beginning of the second half vs

FC Metz Football Club de Metz () is a Football in France, French association football club based in Metz, Lorraine. The club was formed in 1932 and plays in Ligue 1, the highest division in the French football league system, for the 2025–26 Ligue 1, ...

, keeping him out for 2½ months. He returned on 6 January 2021 playing 90 minutes against PSG. However, three days later in the away match against

Reims Reims ( ; ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French Departments of France, department of Marne (department), Marne, and the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, 12th most populous city in Fran ...

he went off injured at the end of the first half with another injury. Retsos did not appear again for the club.

Hellas Verona

On 25 January 2022, Retsos joined

Hellas Verona Hellas Verona Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Hellas Verona (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Verona, Veneto, that currently plays in Serie A. The team won ...

on a free transfer signing an 18-month contract.

Loan to Olympiacos

On 31 August 2022, Retsos returned to

International career

Retsos made his debut for Greece on 31 August 2017, in a 0–0 home draw against

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

in the

2018 FIFA World Cup qualification The 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification process was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA FIFA#Structure, confederations to decide 31 of the 32 teams which would play in the 2018 FIFA World Cup, with Russia national football team, Rus ...

Personal life

Retsos was born in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

, South Africa to Hungarian-Greek parents Christos and Eleni. He and his family returned to their native Greece a year after his birth. He has a younger cousin, Christos, who is also a footballer.His paternal family hails from

Skortsinos Skortsinos () is a village in the municipal unit Falaisia, Arcadia, Greece. It is situated on a hillside south of the mountain Tsemperou, close to the border with Laconia. It is 5 km southeast of Voutsaras, 7 km north of Longanikos and ...

Career statistics

Honours

Olympiacos *

Super League Greece The Super League Greece 1 (), or Stoiximan Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Greece and the highest level of the Greek football league system. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and repla ...

: 2016–17, 2024–25 *

Greek Football Cup The Greek Football Cup (), commonly known as the Greek Cup or Betsson Greek Cup for sponsorship reasons is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation. The Greek Cup is the second-most important domestic men's footba ...

: 2024–25 *

UEFA Europa Conference League The UEFA Conference League (UECL), usually known simply as the Conference League, is an annual association football, football competition organised since 2021 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European foot ...

: 2023–24 Individual * Super League Greece Young Player of the Season: 2016–17 * Super League Greece Team of the Season: 2016–17

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Retsos, Panagiotis 1998 births Living people Soccer players from Johannesburg South African emigrants to Greece Greek men's footballers South African people of Greek descent South African people of Hungarian descent Greek people of South African descent Greece men's youth international footballers Greece men's under-21 international footballers Greece men's international footballers Men's association football defenders Olympiacos F.C. players Bayer 04 Leverkusen players Sheffield United F.C. players AS Saint-Étienne players Hellas Verona FC players Super League Greece players Bundesliga players Ligue 1 players Serie A players Greek expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in France Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Greek expatriate sportspeople in England Greek expatriate sportspeople in Germany Greek expatriate sportspeople in France Greek expatriate sportspeople in Italy UEFA Conference League–winning players 21st-century Greek sportsmen