Former president of Panathinaikos Vasilis Konstantinou discussed Inter right back Georgios Vagiannidis in an interview with Greek media outlet Prasinoforos yesterday afternoon local time, as reported by Italian media outlet FcInterNews.
First, Konstantinou discussed how players need to be more reasonable in regards to contract renewals.
“I think the players should be more responsible with their agents. We must not forget that it’s not the players who talk to the club but their agents, who obviously wanted to start discussions for an early renewal.”
He highlighted that the situation involving Vagiannidis and Panathinaikos was different.
“They did, but when the time comes to renew contracts due to expire, most players don’t have an opinion on the financial issue and the contract they’ll sign and that’s where cooperation deteriorates. However, the issue with Vagiannidis was different, his demands could not be fulfilled, in my opinion.”
The former Panathinaikos touched on why Inter were interested in the player despite how little he played for the Greek club.
“Because the evaluation of the Panathinaikos coach is different from the one who manages Vagiannidis’ contract. Time will tell who was right. The players, however, are seduced by their agents who overestimate them. They tell you that if you play for one or two years at Panathinaikos, your price increases massively, while if you don’t play or do it very little, no-one will take you seriously.”
Finally, Konstantinou spoke about how Vagiannidis could risk the future of his career should he fail to make a good impression with the Nerazzurri.
“We’ll see about that. Economically strong teams make mistakes, but they don’t pay for them. I mean, the money spent by Inter on Vagiannidis shouldn’t affect them too much. While Vagiannidis, in case he doesn’t play, could pay for it and get lost in the system.”
Inter signed the 18-year-old Greek right back on a free transfer, reaching an agreement already with the player. He will become an Inter player at the start of July, and will be sent out on loan next season. The teenager has made 17 appearances across all competitions so far this season, for a total of 1238 minutes. In that time, he has scored five goals and provided one assist.
