Leonardo Koutris

Leonardo Koutris (Greek: Λεονάρντο Κούτρης; born 23 July 1995) is a Greek professional footballer who plays as a left-back for Olympiacos and the Greece national team.

Leonardo Koutris
Personal information
Full name Leonardo Pablo Koutris
Date of birth (1995-07-23) 23 July 1995
Place of birth Ribeirão Preto, Brazil
Height 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
Playing position(s) Left-back
Club information
Current team
 Olympiacos
Number 23
Youth career
2002–2011 Niki Rodos
2011–2013 Ergotelis
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2013–2016 Ergotelis 31 (0)
2016–2017 PAS Giannina 29 (0)
2017– Olympiacos 43 (1)
2020 → Mallorca (loan) 2 (0)
National team‡
2013–2014 Greece U19 3 (0)
2015–2017 Greece U21 2 (0)
2018– Greece 5 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 21 February 2020
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 21:45, 11 June 2019 (UTC).

Club career

Ergotelis

Born in Ribeirão Preto, Brazil, Koutris started his career from a local amateur team from Rhodes, Niki Rodos, where he was spotted by Super League club Ergotelis scouts in 2011.[1] On 28 January 2013, he signed his first professional contract with the club [2] and made his debut as a substitute in a match against Greek champions Olympiacos on 1 December 2013.[3] Already an international with the Greek U19 and U21 squads, and considered one of the greatest talents at Ergotelis, he renewed his contract with the club on 5 June 2014.[4]

After Ergotelis' relegation to the Football League in the summer of 2015, and despite reported interest from Greek giants Panathinaikos,[5] Koutris was one of the 17 players to hold out as part of the club's roster until the very end, which came in January 2016, when Ergotelis officially withdrew from professional competitions, and released all players from their contracts.[6]

PAS Giannina

As a free agent, Koutris signed a three-year contract with Greek Super League club PAS Giannina on 26 January 2016.[7] He scored his first goal for the club on 21 July 2016, during his European debut, netting a crucial extra time away goal vs. Norwegian club Odd during the third qualifying round of the 2016–17 UEFA Europa League. This goal helped his club advance to the next round for the first time in its history, after winning the two-legged tie 4–3 on aggregate.[8]

On 28 April 2017, the talented left defender of PAS Giannina,signed contract with champions Olympiacos and his team will earn an estimated amount of €600,000.[9]

Olympiacos

On 25 July 2017, he made his debut with the club in a 3–1 away win UEFA game against Partizan. He played all the international games of the club, helping Olympiacos to reach UEFA Champions League group stage, after a year.[10] On 9 September 2017, he made his debut with the club in the Super League in a 1–1 away draw against Xanthi. According to various sources, Eintracht Frankfurt and Benfica keep a close eye on Olympiacos' left-back. The Greek giants are aware of the interest in his services and they are eager to hand him a new contract.[11][12] On 18 November 2017, he scored his first goal with the club, sealing a 2–1 home Super League game against Levadiakos. He was voted MVP of the game.[13]

On 15 November 2018, according to various reports West Ham United sporting director Mario Husillos spent the international break watching Leonardo Koutris as the club line up a move for a new left back. Koutris made his debut in Greece’s Uefa Nations League victory over Finland, a game that Husillos personally attended. West Ham manager Manuel Pellegrini has identified left-back as one of the areas he would like to strengthen, having not been convinced by either Arthur Masuaku or Aaron Cresswell.[14] On 9 January 2019, Olympiacos rejected an official bid of Italian club Genoa for the Greek international at the range of €5 million.[15]

Loan to Mallorca

On 29 January 2020, Koutris signed a six months contract with La Liga club Mallorca, on loan from Olympiacos.[16] On 15 February 2020, he made his debut the club as a substitute in the first half, replacing Lumor Agbenyenu in a 1–0 win home game against Deportivo Alavés. On 21 February 2020, Koutris will miss the next six months after receiving the dreaded anterior cruciate ligament injury in La Liga. The Greek international suffered the injury in the 31st minute of a 3–3 home match against Real Betis.[17][18]

International career

On 9 November 2018, Greece's new coach Angelos Anastasiadis called up left-back Koutris for the match against Finland and Estonia for UEFA Nations League.[19] On 15 November 2018, he made his debut in a 1–0 home win game against Finland.

Personal life

Koutris holds both Greek as well as Brazilian citizenship, being born of a Greek father and a Brazilian mother.[20]

Stretcher bearer incident

On 17 October 2015, during an Ergotelis game vs AEL at the AEL FC Arena for the Greek Football League, Koutris was involuntarily involved in a comical incident after having gone down injured by a challenge just outside the penalty area. Unable to stand up, Koutris was roughly loaded onto a stretcher by two stretcher bearers, who proceeded to drop him twice while carrying him outside, before unceremoniously dumping him at the side of the pitch.[21] Ergotelis issued a formal complaint a few hours after the match had ended.[22]

The incident video went viral worldwide, and received coverage from major networks, such as BBC[23] and the Telegraph,[24] as well as being shown on The Ellen DeGeneres Show.[25]

Career statistics

Club

As of 21 February 2020[26] [27]

Club Season League Cup Continental Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Ergotelis 2012–13 Football League 2000——20
2013–14 Superleague Greece 4000——40
2014–15 11031——141
2015–16 Football League 14050——190
Total 31081——391
PAS Giannina 2015–16 Superleague Greece 1000——10
2016–17 2803021—331
Total 2903021—341
Olympiacos 2017–18 Superleague Greece 2013090—321
2018–19 1704030—240
2019–20 600010—60
Total 43170130—621
Mallorca (loan) 2019–20 La Liga 2000——20
Career total 1041181151001373

Honours

Club

Olympiacos

Individual

References
  1. "Ταλεντάρες από Λάρισα και Ρόδο στον Εργοτέλη! (Greek)". athleticradio.gr. 7 June 2011.
  2. "ΕΠΑΓΓΕΛΜΑΤΙΕΣ ΟΙ ΜΠΟΥΡΣΕΛΗΣ, ΑΛΑ ΚΑΙ ΛΕΟΝΑΡΝΤΟ (Greek)". Ergotelis F.C. 28 January 2013.
  3. "ΟΛΥΜΠΙΑΚΟΣ - ΕΡΓΟΤΕΛΗΣ 3-0 (Greek)". Ergotelis F.C. 28 January 2013.
  4. "ΕΠΕΚΤΑΣΗ ΤΗΣ ΣΥΝΕΡΓΑΣΙΑΣ ΜΕ ΤΟΝ ΛΕΟΝΑΡΝΤΟ (Greek)". Ergotelis F.C. 5 June 2014.
  5. "Στην "αγκαλιά" του Παναθηναϊκού ο Κούτρης (Greek)". sport24.gr. 2 August 2015.
  6. "Ηταν υπέροχο όσο κράτησε: Λύγισε μετά από 14 χρόνια στις επαγγελματικές κατηγορίες ο Εργοτέλης (Greek)". patris.gr. 20 January 2016.
  7. "Ανακοίνωσε Κούτρη ο ΠΑΣ Γιάννινα (Greek)". sport24.gr. 26 January 2016.
  8. "Προκρίθηκε ο ΠΑΣ Γιάννινα, ηττήθηκε 3-1 από την Οντ (Greek)". sport24.gr. 21 July 2016.
  9. "Επιστρέφει στον Ολυμπιακό ο Λαΐφης, υπέγραψε ο Κούτρης". www.sport-fm.gr. 28 April 2017.
  10. "Leonardo Koutris". www.uefa.com.
  11. "Παρακολουθούν Κούτρη Άιντραχτ και Μπενφίκα". www.gazzetta.gr. 24 September 2017.
  12. "Σκάουτ της Άιντραχτ είδε τον Κούτρη με την Μπαρτσελόνα". www.sport24.gr. 5 November 2017.
  13. "Με την ψυχή στο στόμα ο Ολυμπιακός, 2-1 τον Λεβαδειακό στο Φάληρο". www.sport24.gr. 18 November 2017.
  14. "West Ham Track Greek International Star Leonardo Koutris Ahead of January Transfer Window". www.90min.com. 21 November 2018.
  15. ""Όχι" Ολυμπιακού σε πρόταση 5 εκ. ευρώ για τον Κούτρη!". www.sdna.gr. 9 January 2019.
  16. "Επίσημο: Στην Μαγιόρκα ο Κούτρης". www.sport24.gr. 29 January 2020.
  17. "Κούτρης: Πολύ σοβαρός ο τραυματισμός του – Τουλάχιστον έξι μήνες εκτός". www.sportime.gr. 21 February 2020.
  18. "Parte médico de Leonardo Koutris". www.rcdmallorca.es. 21 February 2020.
  19. "Εθνική Ελλάδας: Οι πρώτες κλήσεις του Άγγελου Αναστασιάδη" (in Greek). 10 November 2018.
  20. "Το νέο… αίμα του Εργοτέλη (Greek)". neakriti.gr. 11 May 2012.
  21. "Τραυματίας για... πέταμα ο Κούτρης (Greek)". sport24.gr. 17 October 2015.
  22. "ΑΝΑΚΟΙΝΩΣΗ (Greek)". Ergotelis F.C. 18 October 2015.
  23. "Greek player given rough treatment by stretcher bearers". BBC Sports. 19 October 2015.
  24. "Greek stretcher-bearer falls over and drops injured player twice in farcical scenes". The Telegraph. 19 October 2015.
  25. "Από τη Λάρισα στην Ellen DeGeneres! (Greek)". sport24.gr. 21 October 2015.
  26. "Leonardo Koutris". Soccerway. Retrieved 30 June 2017.
  27. "Leonardo Koutris". superleaguegreece.net. Retrieved 20 August 2017.
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