Kostas Manolas

Konstantinos "Kostas" Manolas (Κωνσταντίνος "Κώστας" Μανωλάς; ; born 14 June 1991) is a Greek professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Serie A club Salernitana.

Manolas developed massively while playing alongside AEK icon and UEFA Euro 2004 winner Traianos Dellas, stating to the press, "It is an honour to play alongside such a great player like Dellas, I have developed and become a better player. His experience has helped me become confident on the ball and the decisions I make in the game. I have learned a lot from him and he is basically like a teacher to me who I look up to."

Manolas began his youth career at Thrasyvoulos in 2007.

In 2009, his uncle Stelios Manolas, who was the AEK Athens' technical director at the time, was scouting his nephew at a youth match with AEK manager Dušan Bajević and was impressed with his performance.

On 16 June 2009, Manolas signed a three-year deal with AEK.

After signing, Manolas said, "I am very happy signing for the team I support, hopefully I can be a legend at the club like my uncle and end my career at AEK."

He made his debut against AO Kavala and was named man of the match.

After the game, he stated, "It's a dream to play for the club I love."

Manolas was also rewarded with man of the match honours the following week against PAOK.

In his first seven matches, Manolas was named man of the match in five of them.

Manolas scored his first professional goal against archrivals Olympiacos on 19 May 2010.

Manolas was a key figure for AEK Athens in the 2010–11 season, playing impressive performances in the Superleague Greece but also in the 2010–11 UEFA Europa League, which drew interest from many European teams such as Genoa, Udinese, Getafe and Schalke 04.

Manolas scored a very important goal for AEK against Hajduk Split, securing the win for the Greek side.

The following week, Manolas found the back of the net again, this time against AEL in the Greek Cup, which AEK would later go on to win.

His impressive performances convinced then AEK Athens coach Manolo Jiménez and earned him a spot in the starting line-up, forcing Real Madrid loanee David Mateos to the substitutes' bench.

He finished the 2010–11 season playing 36 matches, scoring three goals.

On 30 April 2011, Manolas won the first trophy of his career, the Greek Cup.

He played a large role in winning the trophy and played solid throughout the match against Atromitos, where at one point he cleared an opposition shot off his line.

Manolas also received man of the match honours due to his outstanding display.

After the 0–3 victory, Manolas stated, "It is a dream for me to win a trophy with my childhood club AEK, and I hope there's many more to come in the future."

On 11 July 2011, Manolas signed a three-year contract extension with AEK, keeping him at the club until 2014.

His contract was worth €900,000 earning €300,000 per-season including bonuses that could reach up to €1.4 million.

Manolas renewed his contract despite interested from big European outfits Werder Bremen, Sevilla, Wolfsburg and Hamburger SV.

Manolas agreed with AEK on €4 million buyout clause for foreign teams and a €10 million buyout clause for Greek teams.

Shortly after signing the contract, Manolas stated to the press, "I am extremely happy that I am going to continue playing for the team of my heart and it is an honour to wear the AEK Jersey for the next three years with my childhood club. I applaud AEK president Stavros Adamidis who believes in me and declined great offers from European teams to keep me at the club despite the huge economical problems the club is suffering. My dream now is to become the team's captain and win the league just like my uncle Stelios Manolas, who achieved this when he joined AEK."

Manolas started the season positively, playing his first competitive match of the 2011–12 season against Georgian side Dinamo Tbilisi in a 2011–12 UEFA Europa League qualifier, helping AEK to 1–0 victory.

He was given heavy praise from Manolo Jiménez.

Manolas scored his first goal of the season in a 0–1 away victory over Panionios.

He dedicated the goal to Jiménez, who had been taking criticism in recent weeks for his team's poor performances.

Manolas also scored the first goal for AEK Athens in a 1–3 away win against Austrian club Sturm Graz in the Europa League.

During the January transfer period, the English Premier League's Everton showed sincere interest in the young centre back, with the team's then-manager David Moyes stating, "Manolas has huge talent and is a player for the future."

On 30 January 2012, it was said that AEK and Everton had agreed on terms to sell Manolas to Everton.

Manolas, however, declined the offer, as he felt he would be leaving his club in a bad situation as the club would have only had three centre backs in the squad: Traianos Dellas and two youth players Mavroudis Bougaidis and Elfar Freyr Helgason after the departure of loanee Cala, who was recalled back to his club Sevilla.

AEK Chairman Stavros Adamidis stated, "It was Manolas who declined the offer, not AEK."

He left AEK Athens having 85 appearances (6 goals) in all competitions.

On 1 July 2012, Manolas joined rivals Olympiacos on a free transfer until 30 June 2016 after his contract with AEK Athens had expired.

"I am very happy that I'm at Olympiacos and I can't wait to play with the red and white shirt in front of a full Karaiskaki and our fans," Manolas said.

Although he was playing with a broken jugal bone since the first minute of the match after a dangerous nudge by Kostas Mitroglou, he scored in the sixth minute, though he later left the match in the 15th minute.

He refused to be taken to the hospital before the match was over, despite being urged by his uncle Stelios Manolas.

The next day, he underwent a successful three-hour surgery, recovered and quickly returned to training sessions.